Definition

1. Noun:

   • A failure to fire or explode: A misfire is an event where a gun, explosive device, or engine fails to operate or ignite as intended.
   • A failure to achieve an intended result: More broadly, a misfire can refer to any plan, joke, or action that fails to have its desired effect.

2. Verb:

   • To fail to fire or detonate: When a gun, engine, or explosive device misfires, it does not operate correctly when triggered.
   • To fail to achieve an intended outcome: When a plan, action, or attempt misfires, it does not succeed or produce the expected result.

Examples

• Noun:

  • The loud click indicated a misfire, and the pistol did not shoot.
  • His attempt at humor was a complete misfire; no one laughed.

• Verb:

  • The old engine misfired several times before starting.
  • The marketing campaign misfired and failed to attract new customers.

Advanced Usage

• "to be a misfire": to be something that fails completely.

  • The new product launch was a total misfire; it was withdrawn from stores within a month.

• "to end in a misfire": for an event or process to conclude with a failure.

  • The negotiations ended in a misfire, with no agreement reached.

Variants and Related Words

• Misfiring (n/adj): The act or instance of failing to fire; describing something that is failing to fire.
  • The mechanic diagnosed the problem as a misfiring cylinder.

Synonyms

• Noun: Dud, failure, flop, malfunction.
• Verb: Fail, fizzle, flop, malfunction.

Related Phrases

• Backfire: While similar, "backfire" often implies a plan that fails and causes harm to its originator, whereas "misfire" focuses more on the simple failure to operate or succeed.
  • His scheme to get a promotion backfired and he lost his job. (Compare to: His scheme misfired and nothing happened.)

Noun

1. a failure to hit (or meet or find etc)
2. an explosion that fails to occur

Verb

1. fail to fire or detonate
   • The guns misfired