mine

From Middle English, from Old French mine, from Late Latin mina, from Gaulish (compare to Welsh mwyn, Irish mianach (“ore”)), from Proto-Celtic *meinis (“ore, metal”).

(pyrotechnics) A type of firework that explodes on the ground, shooting sparks upward.


cake

en-noun

cake (countable and uncountable, plural cakes)

Tok Pisin: kek

→ Albanian: kek

→ Arabic: كَيْك (kayk)

→ Assamese: কে’ক (këk)

→ Atong (India): kek

→ Bengali: কেক (kek)

→⇒ Burmese: ကိတ်မုန့် (kitmun.)

→ Cantonese: 𠽤 (gik¹)

→ Cebuano: keyk

→ Dhivehi: ކޭކު (kēku)

→ Dutch: kaak (spelling pronunciation), cake (also keek, older also kaaks, keeks)

→ Fijian: keke

→ Fiji Hindi: kek

→ French: cake
→ Greek: κεκ (kek)

→ Greek: κέικ (kéik)

→ Gujarati: કેક (kek)

→ Gulf Arabic: كيكة (kēka)

→ Hausa: kyât

→ Hijazi Arabic: كيكة (kēka)

→ Hindi: केक (kek)

→ Iban: kek

→ Indonesian: keik

→ Japanese: ケーキ (kēki)

→ Korean: 케익 (keik), 케이크 (keikeu)

→ Lao: ເຄັກ (khek)

→ Macanese: queique

→ Malay: kek

→ Malayalam: കേക്ക് (kēkkŭ)

→ Maori: keke

→ Nauruan: keik

→ Persian: کِیک /کیک (keyk/kêk)

→ Portuguese: queque

→ Romanian: chec

→ Russian: кек (kek)

→ Spanish: queique, queque, keke; cake

→ Swahili: keki

→ Swazi: líkhékhe

→ Tagalog: keyk, keik

desctree

→ Thai: เค้ก (kéek)
→ Urak Lawoi': เคก (khëk)

→ Tongan: keke

→ Turkish: kek

→ Urdu: کیک (kek)

→ Volapük: kek

→ Xhosa: íkéki, ikeyiki

→ Yoruba: kéèkì

→ Zazaki: kek

→ Zulu: îkhékhe

→ Danish: kiks, (older) keks
→ Faroese: keks
→ Icelandic: kex

→ German: Keks, (obsolete) Cakes
→ Belarusian: кекс (kjeks)
→ Hungarian: keksz
→ Lithuanian: keksas
→ Macedonian: кекс (keks)
→ Polish: keks
→ Kashubian: keks
→ Vilamovian: kēks
→ Yiddish: קעקס (keks)
→ Russian: кекс (keks)
→ Chuvash: кекс (keks)
→ Crimean Tatar: keks
→ Yiddish: קעקס (keks)
→ Serbo-Croatian: kȅks, ке̏кс
→ Ukrainian: кекс (keks)

→ Greek: κέικς (kéiks)

→ Norwegian:

Bokmål: kjeks

Nynorsk: kjeks

→ Swedish: kex, käx (dated)
→ Finnish: keksi

Etymology tree
Proto-Germanic *kakǭ
Old Norse kakabor.
Middle English cake
English cake
From Middle English cake, from Old Norse kaka (“cake”) (compare Norwegian kake, Icelandic/Swedish kaka, Danish kage), from Proto-Germanic *kakǭ, of disputed origin. Likely a distant cognate with kaak. Perhaps related to cookie, kuchen, and quiche. Doublet of coca (pastry).

etymon

(pyrotechnics) A multi-shot fireworks assembly comprising several tubes, each with a fireworks effect, lit by a single fuse.


wheel

we'll (one pronunciation along with the wine–whine merger)

From Middle English whel, from Old English hwēol, from Proto-West Germanic *hwehwl, from Proto-Germanic *hwehwlą, *hweulō, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷekʷlóm, *kʷékʷlos, *kʷékʷléh₂, reduplication of *kʷel- (“to turn”) and a suffix (literally "(the thing that) turns and turns"). See also West Frisian tsjil, Dutch wiel, Danish hjul; also Tocharian B kokale (“cart, wagon”), Ancient Greek κύκλος (kúklos, “cycle, wheel”), Avestan 𐬗𐬀𐬑𐬭𐬀 (caxra), Sanskrit चक्र (cakrá); and Latin colō (“to till, cultivate”), Tocharian A and Tocharian B käl- (“to bear; bring”), Ancient Greek πέλω (pélō, “to come into existence, become”), Old Church Slavonic коло (kolo, “wheel”), Albanian sjell (“to bring, carry, turn around”), Avestan 𐬗𐬀𐬭𐬀𐬌𐬙𐬌 (caraⁱti, “it circulates”), Sanskrit चरति (cárati, “it moves, wanders”). Doublet of chakra, chakram, charkha, chukker, cycle, and cyclus.

агьежь

a circular device facilitating movement or transportation

peix gros

person with a great deal of power or influence


firecracker

She said she was awakened abruptly Friday night by the kid next door setting off a firecracker.

2011, Ken Casper, As the Crow Dies, page 120:

A small explosive device, typically containing a small amount of gunpowder in a tightly-wound roll of paper, primarily designed to produce a large bang.

Alice B. Toklas brownie
Alice B. Toklas brownie

(slang, informal) A peanut butter cracker baked with marijuana, similar in concept to an Alice B. Toklas brownie.

Jude Bellingham became the nation’s second youngest World Cup scorer behind Michael Owen when he started the rout – the centrepiece of a performance of power, skill and precision – while Bukayo Saka deserved his two goals, the first a firecracker, as he radiated menace with his every involvement.

2022 November 21, David Hytner, “England open World Cup in style with Bukayo Saka double in 6-2 rout of Iran”, in The Guardian:

(slang, informal) An individual who is quick-tempered, rambunctious, or unpredictable.


firework

Commercial firework displays are commonly launched from boats or other vessels

Saltpetre being the principal ingredient in fireworks, and a volatile body, by reaſon of its aqueous and aërial parts, is eaſily rarified by fire; but not ſo ſoon when foul and groſs, as when purified from its crude and earthy parts, which greatly retard its velocity: therefore, when any quantity of Fireworks are to be made, it ſhould be examined; for if it is not well cleanſed, and of a good ſort, your works will not have their proper effect; […]

1776, Robert Jones, John Muller, “Sect. I. Saltpetre.”, in Artificial Fireworks, Improved to the Modern Practice, from the Minutest to the Highest Branches; … Also, Mr. Muller's Fireworks, for Sea and Land Service, …, 2nd corr. edition, London: Printed for J. Millan, near Whitehall, →OCLC, page 1:

A device using gunpowder and other chemicals which, when lit, emits a combination of coloured flames, sparks, whistles or bangs, and sometimes made to rocket high into the sky before exploding, used for entertainment or celebration.


lance

From Middle English launce, from Old French lance, from Latin lancea.

(pyrotechnics) One of the small paper cases filled with combustible composition, which mark the outlines of a figure.


balloon

→ Assamese: বেলুন (belun)

→ Bengali: বেলুন (belun)

→ Japanese: バルーン (barūn)

→ Maori: parūnu

→ Welsh: balŵn

→ Zulu: ibhaloni

1570, "a game played with a large, inflated leather ball" (possibly via Middle French ballon) from Italian pallone (“large ball”) from palla (“ball”), from Lombardic *palla. The Northern Italian form, balla (“ball-shaped bundle”), today a doublet, likely derived from Old French balle, from Frankish *balla (“ball”), and may have influenced the spelling of this word. Both Germanic words are from Proto-Germanic *ballô (“ball”), *balluz, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰoln- (“bubble”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to blow, swell, inflate”). Akin to Old High German ballo, bal (“ball”), (German Ballen (“bale”); Ball "ball"). Doublet of ballon. More at ball.


fireworks

From fire + work(s). The similarity with Dutch vuurwerk and German Feuerwerk, both “fireworks”, is hardly coincidental. Since the word was apparently first attested in English circa 1575, probably from the Dutch (1540), from the German (sense early 16th c.), from Middle High German viurwerc (14th c. as “fuel, firewood”). A spread from the south northwards is also in line with the fact that the first European fireworks were produced in Italy in the late 14th century.

5000 Marrons in Battery, which continue firing to the End of the Fireworks.

1749, A Description of the Machine for the Fireworks, with All Its Ornaments, and a Detail of the Manner in which They are to be Exhibited in St. James's Park, Thursday, April 27, 1749, on Account of the General Peace, Signed at Aix La Chappelle, October 7, 1748. Published by Order of His Majesty's Board of Ordnance, London: Printed by W[illiam] Bowyer [for Gaetano Ruggieri and Gioseppe Sarti], sold by R[obert] Dodsley at Tully's Head in Pall Mall, and M. Cooper in Pater-Noster-Row, and the booksellers in London and Westminster, →OCLC, page 13:

By now, a great many people were walking towards the fireworks but their steps fell so softly and they chatted in such gentle voices there was no more noise than a warm, continual, murmurous humming, the cosy should of shared happiness, and the night filled with a muted, bourgeois yet authentic magic. Above our heads, the fireworks hung dissolving earrings on the night. Soon we lay down in a stubbled field to watch the fireworks.

1974, Angela Carter, “A Souvenir of Japan”, in Fireworks: Nine Profane Pieces, London: Quartet Books, →ISBN:

[T]he fireworks were irretrievably connected with the establishment and political success, and tried to bridge the gap to public favour; just as Water Music helped keep the King's image sweet, so Fireworks Music celebrated the national benefit from the power this generated. […] [T]he fireworks were run as a successful commercial enterprise as well as a symbol of monarchical power. The prudent George [II of Great Britain] would surely have been pleased equally by both.

2005, Christopher Hogwood, “Politics and Power”, in Handel: Water Music and Music for the Royal Fireworks (Cambridge Music Handbooks), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 77:

(plural only) An event or a display where fireworks are set off.

I left the room after John came home drunk but before the fireworks went off.

Legal fireworks began yesterday in Benin at the pre-hearing of the petition by the People's Democratic Party, PDP, governorship candidate in the September 28, 2016 election in Edo State, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, challenging the declaration of Mr. Godwin Obaseki of All Progressives Congress, APC, by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, as winner of the election.

2016 December 2, Simon Ebegbulem, Gabriel Enogholase, “Legal fireworks as Edo gov election tribunal begins hearing”, in Vanguard, Lagos, Nigeria, archived from the original on 2016-12-08:

Bedlam started slow, but fireworks started in the second quarter as Oklahoma State took a 17–10 lead to the break.

2016 December 3, Spenser Davis, “Oklahoma football: Sooners, Cowboys knotted at 17 in de facto Big 12 Championship game”, in The Oklahoma Daily, archived from the original on 2016-12-26:

(plural only, figuratively) A boisterous or violent event or situation.


ashcan

(US, slang) A kind of large firecracker.


pinwheel

An artificial flower with a stem, usually plastic, for children: the flower spins round in the wind, like a small paper windmill.

The sun blazing late in the afternoon, this long hilarious day like a pinwheel inexhaustibly throwing off sparks.

1992, Joyce Carol Oates, Black Water, paperback edition, Penguin Books, page 125:

A firework which forms a kind of spinning wheel.

A pastry which resembles the artificial flowers above, with some filling or topping in the center.

Any food product consisting of layers (for example of pastry and sweet filling, or of bread and meat) rolled into a spiral, visually similar to a cinnamon roll.


girandole

/ˈd͡ʒɪɹəndəʊl/

From French girandole, from Italian girandola, from girare (“to turn, gyrate”).

(pyrotechnics) A type of firework which creates a "whirling top" or "flying saucer" effect.


gerbe

Late 16th century, borrowed from French gerbe (“sheaf”). Doublet of garb.

on the top of the post fix a gerbe; then clothe all the cases with leaders , so that both they and the gerbe may take fire at the same time

1835, Frederick Bruhl, The Complete Art of Making Fireworks:

(pyrotechnics) A kind of ornamental firework.


Bengal light

I saw no more of it than this sort of luminous panel, sharply defined against a vague and shadowy background, like the panels which the glow of a Bengal light or a searchlight beam will cut out and illuminate in a building the other parts of which remain plunged in darkness

1981, Marcel Proust, Swann's Way, trans. CK Scott Moncrieff & Terence Kilmartin, Folio Society 2005, p. 40

at last, as if given up on our common sense, they took their leave with a salute of Bengal lights from which irony may not have been entirely absent.

2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage, published 2007, page 161:

The last streetcar was disappearing in the mirrorlike murk of the street and , along the wire above it, a spark of Bengal light, crackling and quivering , sped into the distance like a blue star.

"Details of a Sunset", Vladimir Nabokov, collected stories Penguin p.90

A bright blue flare prepared from niter, sulphur, and the black sulphide of antimony; formerly used in signalling, but now chiefly as fireworks.


Catherine wheel

en-noun

Catherine wheel (plural Catherine wheels)

Saint Catherine of Alexandria was said to have been sentenced to execution on such a wheel, which shattered at her touch.

Sorcerers are too common; cunning men, wizards, and white witches […] have commonly St. Catherine's wheel printed in the roof of their mouth, or in some other part about them […]

[…] her tortures consisted of being broken on a wheel (later called Catherine wheel), but the machine broke down injuring bystanders; Catherine was beheaded.

1992, David Hugh Farmer, The Oxford Dictionary of Saints, 3rd edition, page 88:

She only lied to the boy to keep him from hurt, and for her sin her intestines were pulled from her on a Catherine wheel.

2008, Peter Carey, His Illegal Self, page 181:

(historical or heraldry) A breaking wheel, or wheel with spikes on it.

[…] she went on, making turns and twists, flourishing her skirts, kicking higher and higher, and finally, among a volley of shouts, fell on her hands and turned head over heels in a magnificent catherine-wheel; then scrambling to her feet again, she tumbled into the arms of a young man standing in the front of the ring.

1897, W. Somerset Maugham, chapter 1, in Liza of Lambeth:

We did a Catharine-wheel together down the passage. Somehow we gathered up a chair upon our way, and bounded on with it towards the street.

1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:


throwdown

Deverbal from throw down. Fight and music senses from earlier idiom throw down the gauntlet (“issue a challenge”).


Tom Thumb

(Australia) A type of diminutive simple firecracker that explodes to give a loud noise.


Roman candle

A traditional type of firework that ejects one or more stars or exploding shells.

A parachute deployment failure in which the parachutist whirls downward at high speed.


Roman candle

en-verb

Roman candle (third-person singular simple present Roman candles, present participle Roman candling, simple past and past participle Roman candled)

Roman candles (present singular third-person)
Roman candling (participle present)
Roman candled (participle past)
Roman candled (past)

At first, Cyclops's chute began to Roman candle, but in another moment, it popped.

2007, J. Joseph Higgins, The Splat Conspiracy: America in Peril, page 145:

Canopies used to be made of silk and when they got wet they would not open, leaving the parachutist to “Roman candle” to a certain death.

2012, Nigel Cawthorne, The Mammoth Book of Inside the Elite Forces:

That was the theory, but as Corby continued, 'Unfortunately, in operation, this type of parachute tended to "Roman Candle" twist round and round, so that ultimately caused the parachute to collapse and allow the man to fall to the ground unsupported.'


gerb

A firework that produces a fountain of sparks


backarapper

Properly, backrapper, from back + rapper. From the dialect of Warwickshire in the Midlands of England. Compare backrackets.

But there was also a generous distribution of squibs, crackers, backarappers, sparklers, torches, dwarf-candles, elf-fountains, goblin-barkers and thunder-claps.

1954, J[ohn] R[onald] R[euel] Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, published 2012, page 27:

He would sink like an express lift and leap like a deer: at times he was almost flat on his back and when the hammer cracked he often appeared to be standing on his nose: like a backarapper he fizzed up and down and […]

1956, John Petty, Five fags a day: the last year of a scrap-picker, Secker & Warburg, page 60:

It would have been so easy to remove these capricious intrusions of manner clashing with theme; so easy to afford quiet relief, as in the first half of the last chapter, instead of throwing in raillery like backarappers.

1966, Oswald Harcourt Davis, The master: a study of Arnold Bennett, page 162:

(West Midlands) A firework made from multiple firecrackers folded together so that they will explode one after the other.


Pharaoh's serpent

en-noun

Pharaoh's serpent (plural Pharaoh's serpents)

A kind of firework that creates a snake-like formation of ash via an intumescent reaction, originally involving toxic mercury (II) thiocyanate.


bang snap

(pyrotechnics) A type of very small firework consisting of a small amount of gravel or coarse sand impregnated with a minute amount of silver fulminate and wrapped in a twisted piece of thin paper, which detonates harmlessly when struck, crushed, or ignited.


bunger

(Australia) A type of simple firecracker that explodes to give an extremely loud noise.


crackling microstar

crackling microstar (plural crackling microstars)

(pyrotechnics) A kind of firework which first burns for a period for a visual effect and then loudly deflagrates


microstar

(nanotechnology, pyrotechnics) A tiny star shaped object.


ice fountain

A machine that produces and dispenses ice flakes, typically found in spas and saunas.

A small indoor firework that burns cool with a sparkling flame, typically clipped onto champagne bottles or substituted for candles on birthday cakes.