fire roll

English

Noun

fire roll (plural fire rolls)

1. (nautical, historical) A special drumbeat used to summon men to their quarters in case of fire.
   • 1829, Colburn's United Service Magazine and Naval and Military Journal, page 76:

     The dark, dingy smoke which now began to pervade the deck, left no doubt in the captain's mind as to the correctness of the seaman's suspicions. […] Staunch directed the drummer to beat the 'Fire-roll.'

   • 1838, Frederick Marryat, The King's Own, page 377:

     As soon as he could recall his scattered senses, with his usual presence of mind he desired the "fire-roll" to be beat by the drummer, and sent down to ascertain the extent of the mischief. A strong sulphureous smell pervaded the ship […]

   • 2000, Ludwig Ritter von Höhnel, Ronald E. Coons, Pascal James Imperato, Over Land and Sea: Memoirs of an Austrian Rear Admiral's Life in Europe and Africa, 1857-1909, page 149:

     […] beat the fire roll. Then I hurried back to the main deck, without even thinking of making a report to the captain. The fire drill had been practiced every day […]

References

• “fire”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.