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Fireman vs Firepan - What's the difference?

fireman | firepan |

As nouns the difference between fireman and firepan

is that fireman is (firefighting) someone (implied male) who is skilled in the work of fighting fire while firepan is a pan for holding or conveying fire, especially the receptacle for the priming of a gun.

fireman

Noun

(firemen)
  • (firefighting) Someone (implied male) who is skilled in the work of fighting fire.
  • (rail transport) A man who keeps the fire going underneath a steam boiler (originally, shoveling coal by hand), particularly on a railroad locomotive.
  • * ca. 1913 The wreck of Old 97 [ballad, Blue Ridge Mountains], verse 3:
  • He looked around his cab at his black greasy fireman, saying 'shovel on a little more coal, and when we cross that White Oak Mountain, you can watch Old 97 roll'.
  • (rail transport) By extension of the above, an assistant on any locomotive, whether steam-powered or not.
  • (baseball) A relief pitcher.
  • Usage notes

    Historically meant only a man, now used to refer to female firefighters as well. In modern usage, the gender-inclusive term firefighter is generally preferred.

    Antonyms

    * firewoman

    Hypernyms

    * firefighter * smoke eater

    See also

    * tillerman * stoker English nouns with irregular plurals

    firepan

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A pan for holding or conveying fire, especially the receptacle for the priming of a gun.