"backdraft" meaning in English

See backdraft in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /ˈbækˌdɹæft/ [General-American] Forms: backdrafts [plural], back draft [alternative], back draught [alternative], backdraught [alternative]
Etymology: Etymology tree English back English draft English backdraft From back + draft. Etymology templates: {{ety|en|:af|back|draft|text=+|tree=1}} Etymology tree English back English draft English backdraft From back + draft. Head templates: {{en-noun}} backdraft (plural backdrafts)
  1. (American spelling, firefighting) Sudden, dangerous recombustion that occurs when there is a rapid reintroduction of oxygen to an enclosed space containing a fire. Tags: US Related terms: smoke explosion, a different extreme fire behavior phenomenon, fire, firefighting, volatile Translations (recombustion): humahdus (Finnish), leimahdus (Finnish), powiew [masculine] (Polish), podmuch [masculine] (Polish)

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":af",
        "3": "back",
        "4": "draft",
        "text": "+",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nEnglish back\nEnglish draft\nEnglish backdraft\nFrom back + draft.",
      "name": "ety"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Etymology tree\nEnglish back\nEnglish draft\nEnglish backdraft\nFrom back + draft.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "backdrafts",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "back draft",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "back draught",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "backdraught",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "backdraft (plural backdrafts)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries referencing ambiguous etymons",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries referencing missing etymons",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with etymology texts",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with etymology trees",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages using etymon with no ID",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with etymology trees",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Polish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Firefighting",
          "orig": "en:Firefighting",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Sudden, dangerous recombustion that occurs when there is a rapid reintroduction of oxygen to an enclosed space containing a fire."
      ],
      "id": "en-backdraft-en-noun-RfoCxwRv",
      "links": [
        [
          "firefighting",
          "firefighting"
        ],
        [
          "Sudden",
          "sudden#English"
        ],
        [
          "dangerous",
          "dangerous"
        ],
        [
          "recombustion",
          "recombustion"
        ],
        [
          "rapid",
          "rapid"
        ],
        [
          "reintroduction",
          "reintroduction"
        ],
        [
          "oxygen",
          "oxygen"
        ],
        [
          "enclosed",
          "enclosed"
        ],
        [
          "space",
          "space"
        ],
        [
          "contain",
          "contain"
        ],
        [
          "fire",
          "fire"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(American spelling, firefighting) Sudden, dangerous recombustion that occurs when there is a rapid reintroduction of oxygen to an enclosed space containing a fire."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "smoke explosion"
        },
        {
          "word": "a different extreme fire behavior phenomenon"
        },
        {
          "word": "fire"
        },
        {
          "word": "firefighting"
        },
        {
          "word": "volatile"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "firefighting",
        "government"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "lang_code": "fi",
          "sense": "recombustion",
          "word": "humahdus"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "lang_code": "fi",
          "sense": "recombustion",
          "word": "leimahdus"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "lang_code": "pl",
          "sense": "recombustion",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "powiew"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "lang_code": "pl",
          "sense": "recombustion",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "podmuch"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈbækˌdɹæft/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "backdraft"
}
{
  "etymology_templates": [
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        "1": "en",
        "2": ":af",
        "3": "back",
        "4": "draft",
        "text": "+",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nEnglish back\nEnglish draft\nEnglish backdraft\nFrom back + draft.",
      "name": "ety"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Etymology tree\nEnglish back\nEnglish draft\nEnglish backdraft\nFrom back + draft.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "backdrafts",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "back draft",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "back draught",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "backdraught",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "backdraft (plural backdrafts)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "smoke explosion"
    },
    {
      "word": "a different extreme fire behavior phenomenon"
    },
    {
      "word": "fire"
    },
    {
      "word": "firefighting"
    },
    {
      "word": "volatile"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "American English forms",
        "English compound terms",
        "English countable nouns",
        "English entries referencing ambiguous etymons",
        "English entries referencing missing etymons",
        "English entries with etymology texts",
        "English entries with etymology trees",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English nouns",
        "Entries with translation boxes",
        "Pages using etymon with no ID",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "Pages with etymology trees",
        "Terms with Finnish translations",
        "Terms with Polish translations",
        "en:Firefighting"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Sudden, dangerous recombustion that occurs when there is a rapid reintroduction of oxygen to an enclosed space containing a fire."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "firefighting",
          "firefighting"
        ],
        [
          "Sudden",
          "sudden#English"
        ],
        [
          "dangerous",
          "dangerous"
        ],
        [
          "recombustion",
          "recombustion"
        ],
        [
          "rapid",
          "rapid"
        ],
        [
          "reintroduction",
          "reintroduction"
        ],
        [
          "oxygen",
          "oxygen"
        ],
        [
          "enclosed",
          "enclosed"
        ],
        [
          "space",
          "space"
        ],
        [
          "contain",
          "contain"
        ],
        [
          "fire",
          "fire"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(American spelling, firefighting) Sudden, dangerous recombustion that occurs when there is a rapid reintroduction of oxygen to an enclosed space containing a fire."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "firefighting",
        "government"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈbækˌdɹæft/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "lang_code": "fi",
      "sense": "recombustion",
      "word": "humahdus"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "lang_code": "fi",
      "sense": "recombustion",
      "word": "leimahdus"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "lang_code": "pl",
      "sense": "recombustion",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "powiew"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "lang_code": "pl",
      "sense": "recombustion",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "podmuch"
    }
  ],
  "word": "backdraft"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-06-07 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-06-01 using wiktextract (e79dea5 and 7f4db16). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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