From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
firing
n 1: the act of firing weapons or artillery at an enemy; "hold
your fire until you can see the whites of their eyes";
"they retreated in the face of withering enemy fire" [syn:
fire, firing]
2: the act of discharging a gun [syn: discharge, firing,
firing off]
3: the act of setting something on fire [syn: ignition,
firing, lighting, kindling, inflammation]
4: the termination of someone's employment (leaving them free to
depart) [syn: dismissal, dismission, discharge,
firing, liberation, release, sack, sacking]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Firing \Fir"ing\, n.
1. The act of discharging firearms.
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2. The mode of introducing fuel into the furnace and working
it. --Knight.
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3. The application of fire, or of a cautery. --Dunglison.
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4. The process of partly vitrifying pottery by exposing it to
intense heat in a kiln.
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5. Fuel; firewood or coal. [Obs.] --Mortimer.
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Firing iron, an instrument used in cauterizing.
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