firecracker

English

Etymology

From fire +‎ cracker.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈfaɪəˌkɹækə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈfaɪəɹˌkɹækəɹ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

Noun

firecracker (plural firecrackers)

1. 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.
   • 2011, Ken Casper, As the Crow Dies‎^[1], page 120:

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

2. (slang) A peanut butter cracker baked with marijuana, similar in concept to an Alice B. Toklas brownie.
3. (slang) Someone or something that is exciting, energetic, or unpredictable.
   • 2022 November 21, David Hytner, “England open World Cup in style with Bukayo Saka double in 6-2 rout of Iran”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian‎^[2], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 13 October 2026:

     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.

Alternative forms

• fire-cracker

Derived terms

• firecracker chicken
• firecracker flower
• firecracker plant
• wet firecracker

Translations

a firework

• Assamese: ফটকা (photoka)
• Asturian: restallón m
• Azerbaijani: zırpaket
• Bulgarian: пира́тка f (pirátka), фишек (bg) m (fišek)
• Catalan: petard (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 炮仗 (paau³ zoeng^6-2)

  Mandarin: 爆竹 (zh) (bàozhú), 鞭炮 (zh) (biānpào)

• Czech: petarda (cs) f
• Dutch: rotje (nl) n
• Esperanto: petardo
• Eyak: LAdlahG
• Finnish: sähikäinen (fi), papattimatto (fi)
• French: pétard (fr) m
• German: Böller (de) m, Feuerwerkskörper (de) m, Knallkörper (de) m, (colloquial) Kracher (de) m
• Greek: κροτίδα (el) f (krotída), πυροτέχνημα (el) n (pyrotéchnima)
• Hindi: पटाका (hi) m (paṭākā)
• Hungarian: petárda (hu)
• Indonesian: air mancur api, mercon (id)
• Italian: petardo (it) m, mortaretto (it) m, castagnola (it) f
• Japanese: 爆竹 (ja) (ばくちく, bakuchiku), 癇癪玉 (かんしゃくだま, kanshakudama)
• Kapampangan: pamakbung
• Khmer: ផាវ (km) (phaaw)
• Korean: 폭죽(爆竹) (ko) (pokjuk), 불꽃 (ko) (bulkkot)
• Macedonian: пета́рда f (petárda)
• Malay: mercun (ms)
• Māori: tiripapā
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Norwegian: kinaputt m
• Pohnpeian: anapi
• Polish: petarda (pl) f
• Portuguese: traque (pt) m, bombinha m
• Romanian: petardă (ro) f, pocnitoare (ro) f
• Russian: пета́рда (ru) f (petárda), хлопу́шка (ru) f (xlopúška), фейерве́рк (ru) m (fejjervérk)
• Serbo-Croatian: petarda (sh)
• Spanish: petardo (es), piola (es), triquitraque (es)
• Swedish: smällare (sv) c
• Tagalog: pakbong, rebentador, labintador, paputok
• Thai: ประทัด (th) (bprà-tát)
• Tibetan: ཤོག་པག (shog pag)
• Turkish: havai fişek (tr), kestane fişeği, patlangaç (tr)
• Urdu: پٹاخا (paṭāxā)
• Vietnamese: pháo (vi)

an energetic, unpredictable person

• Bulgarian: please add this translation if you can
• French: pétard (fr), coléreux (fr), coléreuse (fr), soupe au lait (fr)
• German: Hitzkopf (de), Kracher (de), Knaller (de)
• Hungarian: tűzrőlpattant (hu)
• Polish: petarda (pl) f
• Spanish: fiera (es)

See also

• fireworks