firebug

[ fahyuh r-buhg ]

/ ˈfaɪərˌbʌg /

arsonist; incendiary; pyromaniac.

Origin of firebug

An Americanism dating back to 1870–75; fire + bug¹

The firebug stopped his car and ran around the first building, which appeared to be an old barn.

Bill Bruce on Forest Patrol |Henry Harley Arnold
I've been over that thing time and time again, and I've felt like I was sort of a firebug myself sometimes.

Cap'n Eri |Joseph Crosby Lincoln
Suppose that the firebug should run through the town while the foresters were climbing up to the roof to get that message.

Bill Bruce on Forest Patrol |Henry Harley Arnold
The car was still there, but there was no sign of the firebug.

Bill Bruce on Forest Patrol |Henry Harley Arnold

The firebug Johnny had been sent out to catch certainly had some strange bent to his nature.

The Firebug |Roy J. Snell

firebug

/ (ˈfaɪəˌbʌɡ) /

informal a person who deliberately sets fire to property