1. Come back to the originator of an action with an undesired effect
   "Your comments may backfire and cause you a lot of trouble";
   - backlash, recoil
    
2. Emit a loud noise as a result of undergoing a backfire
   "My old car backfires all the time"
    
3. Set a controlled fire to halt an advancing forest or prairie fire
   "Firefighters backfired to contain the wildfire"

1. An action or plan that has an unintended negative effect on the person who initiated it
   "The smear campaign became a backfire when voters sympathized with his rival";
   - boomerang
    
2. A loud noise made by the explosion of fuel in the manifold or exhaust of an internal combustion engine
   "The old car's backfire startled pedestrians on the street"
    
3. The backward escape of gases and unburned gunpowder after a gun is fired
   "The backfire from the antique pistol surprised the inexperienced user";
   - blowback
    
4. A fire that is set intentionally in order to slow an approaching forest fire or grassfire by clearing a burned area in its path
   "Firefighters used a controlled backfire to protect the threatened homes"

Derived forms: backfiring, backfired, backfires

Type of: blowup, blow-up, burn, burn down, come about, detonation, explosion, fall out, fire, go on, hap [archaic], happen, make noise, miscalculation, misestimation, misreckoning, noise, occur, pass, pass off, resound, take place

Encyclopedia: Backfire