fire-settingn.
/ˈfʌɪəsɛtɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈfaɪ(ə)rˌsɛdɪŋ/ 1. The softening or cracking of a rock face to facilitate excavation, by exposing it to a wood fire built close against it.
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1812 N.-Amer. Rev. & Misc. Jrnl. 12 289 We got the miners..to kindle a torch or two..this, however, afforded but a faint image of the real fire setting.
1884 J. A. Phillips Treat. Ore Deposits ii. 321 The granite of the larger mass has, however, been continuously mined for many centuries, first by fire-setting, and afterwards by blasting.
1963 R. J. Forbes Stud. Anc. Technol. VII. ii. 133 By fire-setting the surface lode was followed into the mountain to a depth of 70–100 M below the slope.
2000 J. Henderson Sci. & Archaeol. Materials v. 214 The tips associated with the working of Copa Hill contained charcoal which probably derived from fire setting operations.
2. The action or practice of starting a fire; esp. the setting of fires as a malicious or criminal act; arson. Cf. firesetter n., fire-setting adj.
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the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > burning > [noun] > going or setting on fire > setting on fire or alight > incendiarism
fire-raising1554
arsona1676
red cock1815
incendiarism1837
fire-setting1844
1844 Lloyd's Weekly London Newspaper 18 Feb. 5/1 There is scarcely a rural district in England, in which the crime of wilful fire-setting is not now prevalent.
1898 Forester Dec. 249/2 Every visitor to the forest would..be made to feel his personal responsibility for fire-setting, etc.
1937 Pop. Sci. Monthly Aug. 29/2 Criminal rings engage ‘professionally’ in fire-setting.
1955 B. Bettelheim Truants from Life (1964) 68 Paul's self-destructive tendencies cropped up at the School in the form of fire-setting and attacks upon others.
1988 P. L. Adams & I. Fras Beginning Child Psychiatry vii. 120 Pyromania is not diagnosed when the firesetting is secondary to another disorder, such as..Schizophrenia.
2013 Irish Times (Nexis) 10 Oct. 4 Young residents were being locked in the building overnight, despite several incidents of fire-setting at the unit.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
fire-settingadj.
/ˈfʌɪəsɛtɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈfaɪ(ə)rˌsɛdɪŋ/ That starts a fire; esp. that sets fires as a malicious or criminal act. Also: characterized by the setting of fires. Cf. firesetter n., fire-setting n. 2.
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the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > burning > [adjective] > setting on fire or alight > having quality of
combustive1653
incentive1667
fire-kindling1674
inflammative1730
inflammatory1757
conflagratory1831
fire-setting1833
incendive1959
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > burning > [adjective] > setting on fire or alight > incendiary
incendiary1611
incendious1823
fire-setting1833
petrolean1893
1833 Cobbett's Weekly Polit. Reg. 14 Dec. 683 The eulogium pronounced..on the ‘magnanimous’ and fire-setting Alexander, must have done infinite mischief in the minds of the people of England.
1889 Proc. Amer. Forestry Congr. 1888 52 The number of fire-setting travellers has greatly increased in comparatively recent times.
1923 Bull. Amer. Meteorol. Soc. 4 165 Fire setting thunderstorms are most numerous over the mountains of California, especially in the north.
1961 M. Sandoz Love Song to Plains (1966) viii. 188 General Mitchell, hoping to stop the warrior march north, had organized a vast fire-setting crew.
1969 Behaviour Res. & Therapy 7 135 (title) Elimination by the parents of fire-setting behaviour in a 7-year-old boy.
2012 Toronto Star (Nexis) 29 Dec. a14 The accusation is that Beaudry is part of a notorious and little-studied column of the crime statistics known as fire-setting firefighters.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, December 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1812
adj.1833