spitfire

English · Français · Deutsch · Thesaurus

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

spitfire^¹

/ˈspɪtˌfʌɪə/

Where it comes from

Deverbal from spit fire.

noun spitfires

A cannon.
figuratively A person with a fiery temper, someone easily provoked to anger, especially a woman or girl. 1801, Peter Viereck, The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, D.D., Dean of St. Patrick's, Dublin., Volume ⅩⅠⅠⅠ, by John Nichols (arranged by Thomas Sheridan), p. 143, published in London "―But however provoked, are your scribbling spitfires never to be satisfied?"
Similar: shitfire
A larva of the spitfire sawfly, Perga affinis.

Spitfire^²

noun Spitfires

historical A single-seat fighter used by the RAF and allies during World War II, especially during the Battle of Britain.

Talk about this word

Cite this

MLA

"spitfire." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/spitfire. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

spitfire. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/spitfire

Chicago

"spitfire." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/spitfire.

BibTeX

@misc{spitfire_2026,
  title = {spitfire},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/spitfire},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}