1.1(Of an internal combustion engine) undergo failure of the fuel to ignite correctly or at all: the car would misfire occasionally from the cold
More example sentences
- It did little other than cause the car to misfire as the temperature decrease seemed to crystallize the fuel.
- He said there might have been a bit of water in the fuel causing my engine to misfire when I started the car.
- The last 50 km we nearly ran out of fuel and the engine was misfiring.
1.2(Especially of a plan) fail to produce the intended result: the killer didn’t know that his plan had misfired
More example sentences
- My joy, such as it is, lies in the satisfaction that a carefully thought out plan has wonderfully misfired.
- As of August, 2003, revenue was down 25% as expansion plans badly misfired.
- Her plans misfired, she was captured by Henry, and until his death in 1189 was kept in close confinement, carefully watched, in England.
1.3(Of a nerve cell) fail to transmit an electrical impulse at an appropriate moment.
- What happens in the disease is that the neurons or the brain cells are misfiring and not communicating well.
- The actual cause is a mystery, but new brain-scanning techniques suggest that migraines happen because brain cells misfire then shut down, causing the arteries on that side of the brain to contract rapidly and cause pain.
- Gambling also causes misfiring of the AAR pathway.
A failure of a gun or missile to fire correctly or of fuel in an internal combustion engine to ignite.
- I might add that in my lot of 1936 era ammunition, most of the primers have gone bad so be careful if your experience a misfire or hang fire when using old military stores.
- He must have had a misfire or failure to chamber a round because as he pressed the trigger, he shoved the rifle violently down, yanked his face away from the stock, and actually stumbled forward half a step.
- Soldiers must know how to load, fire, clear and reduce stoppages and misfires on every crew-served weapon.
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