bonfire

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a large controlled outdoor fire, especially one lit for celebration or as a signal

   The villagers gathered around a bonfire to mark the end of the harvest.

2. 2
   noun

   a large outdoor fire used to burn garden waste or unwanted material

   They burned the fallen branches on a carefully supervised bonfire.

From Middle English bonefire, literally 'bone fire,' a fire in which bones were burned. The form became bonfire, and the meaning broadened to any large open-air fire used for ceremony, celebration, signaling, or disposal.

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