baptism of fire
noun phrase
variants
or chiefly US baptism by fire
1
: an introductory or initial experience that is a severe ordeal
especially
: a soldier's first exposure to enemy fire
2
: a spiritual baptism by a gift of the Holy Spirit
—often used in allusion to Acts 2:3–4; Matthew 3:11 (Revised Standard Version)
Examples of baptism of fire in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Some of that can be attributed to young players such as Jordan Beck, Hunter Goodman and Aaron Schunk getting their baptism of fire against big-league pitchers.
—
Patrick Saunders, The Denver Post, 6 Oct. 2024
More than that, a baptism of fire gave Foley the confidence to go forward with his new passion.
—Bryan Hendricks, Arkansas Online, 30 July 2023
The Bradley vehicles recently saw a brutal baptism of fire in Ukrainian service assaulting a Russian minefield.
—Sébastien Roblin, Popular Mechanics, 5 July 2023
Patrick Saunders, The Denver Post, 6 Oct. 2024
More than that, a baptism of fire gave Foley the confidence to go forward with his new passion.
—Bryan Hendricks, Arkansas Online, 30 July 2023
The Bradley vehicles recently saw a brutal baptism of fire in Ukrainian service assaulting a Russian minefield.
—Sébastien Roblin, Popular Mechanics, 5 July 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'baptism of fire.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near baptism of fire
Cite this Entry
“Baptism of fire.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/baptism%20of%20fire. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.
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