Firehouses

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A building designated for housing fire-fighting apparatus and personnel
2. a facility where firefighters are stationed and respond to emergencies
3. a location that serves as a base for fire and rescue services to operate from

Etymology: Firehouses is simply the plural of "firehouse," a compound of "fire" and "house." The compound is old and transparent: "house" in the sense of a building for a particular purpose, as in "alehouse" or "schoolhouse." The "fire" element refers to the engine and crew, and the word originally named the building where the hand-pumped fire engines were kept. The plural adds the regular "-s" for the several buildings that a town or city might have, and the word is most common in American English, where "fire station" is also used.

Synonyms: fire stations, fire departments