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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 to prairie fire

1. The backward escape of gases and unburned gunpowder after a gun is fired
   - blowback
    
2. A loud noise made by the explosion of fuel in the manifold or exhaust of an internal combustion engine
    
3. A fire that is set intentionally in order to slow an approaching forest fire or grassfire by clearing a burned area in its path
    
4. A miscalculation that recoils on its maker
   - boomerang

Derived forms: backfired, backfires, backfiring

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