# fire sale

idiom

Source: https://englishreference.com/idiom/fire-sale
Updated: 2026-08-10

## Meaning

A clearance sale at greatly reduced prices, often at losses.

## Examples

- The store is having a fire sale on all winter clothes.
- The bookstore sells every hardback for one dollar during this weekend's fire sale.
- Because the business is closing next week, they are holding a fire sale to clear out their remaining inventory.
- After the tech startup lost its main investor, the founders held a fire sale of their office furniture and high-end computers to pay the final rent.
- Facing imminent bankruptcy, the company initiated a desperate fire sale of its assets to satisfy the demands of its primary creditors.

## Origin

Nineteenth-century metonymy, from the practice of offering products at a significant discount following a fire. The term described goods that had either sustained direct damage from the flames or required immediate liquidation because their storage facility had been destroyed, rendering further retention impossible. By the end of the century, the necessity of selling items before they lost all value had established the phrase in the lexicon of commerce.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.