GREEK FIRE • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Greek fire

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/grik fˈaɪər/ Listen

Greek fire

noun

A mixture used by Byzantine Greeks that was often shot at adversaries; catches fire when wetted.

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Etymology of 'Greek fire'

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"Greek fire" Quotes from Famous Books

... nasty mess. We're in a vicious circle. And we're making a careful study of poison-gases. The secret of Greek fire was lost long ago, when the world left off being wonderful and ideal. Now it is wonderful and ideal again, much wonderfuller and much more ideal. So we ought to do something rare in the way of poison-gas. London a Pompeii in five minutes! How to outdo Vesuvius!—title of a new ...

— Fantasia of the Unconscious • D. H. Lawrence

... example, son Raynal; a Hospitalier has no will.- -And look you, young Sir Page, if you stay out at sunset in that clime, 'tis all up with you. And you should veil your helmet well, or the sun smites on your head as deadly as a flake of Greek fire." ...

— The Prince and the Page • Charlotte M. Yonge

... display of fireworks continued, then the thunder rolled away, deadened to a dull rumour, and died out; and the last lingering spark of Greek fire faded in mid-heaven. A wavering crimson light brightened on the horizon, increasing, deepening. But what it was that had been set on fire he could not guess. Paigecourt ...

— Ailsa Paige • Robert W. Chambers