fire alarm
"fire-alarm" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“fire alarm” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 10
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An electromechanical or electronic bell, klaxon, chime, horn, speaker, strobe light or other device which warns people in a building etc. of a possible fire or other condition requiring evacuation.
Corpus desk
Index EN-fire-alarm · fire alarm · English
fire alarm · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 10 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "F" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | fire alarm |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 10 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “fire alarm” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
fire alarm is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for fire alarm, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: From fire + alarm. The correct English form is fire alarm, spelled F-I-R-E- -A-L-A-R-M.
Definition
- 1An electromechanical or electronic bell, klaxon, chime, horn, speaker, strobe light or other device which warns people in a building etc. of a possible fire or other condition requiring evacuation.
- 2The sound or other warning made by a fire alarm.
- 3An emergency response to a fire by the fire department with manpower and equipment.
Etymology
From fire + alarm.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.