We created this fireworks terms dictionary for attorneys and their clients to use after a fireworks accident. When we investigate a fireworks accidents, it is important to identify the correct product and manufacturer. Use our fireworks terms dictionary for the correct terms for the products involved helps everyone get to the root of the accident.
Fireworks Terms Defined
There are many different kinds of fireworks. Let Meier Fire help you increase your fireworks vocabulary.
Fireworks Terms A-G
Aerial – a firework that shoots into the air, typically ending in a salute or visual effect.
Barrage – a group of items fired all at once.
Battery – a group of similar items packaged or constructed as a single bundle, such as a missile or roman candle battery.
Black Powder (aka gun powder) – a mixture of potassium nitrate, charcoal, and sulfur. Often used as a propellant in aerial fireworks
Bottle Rocket – a small rocket with an attached stick used for guidance, and typically contain a whistle effect or report (loud bang).
Cake (see also Battery) – a group of similar items that lit in sequence by a single fuse.
Cone (see also Fountain) – a type of fountain in the shape of a cone.
Commercial Fireworks (aka Professional or Display Fireworks) – large fireworks intended for public displays which usually require a licensed operator and a permit.
Consumer Fireworks – fireworks that have been approved by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). They are limited in size and the amount of explosive composition which they can contain.
Consumer Product Safety Commission – a federal agency responsible for testing and approving consumer products, including fireworks. http://www.cpsc.gov/.
Firecracker – a small salute typically about 1-½ x ¼ in containing flash powder which produces a report (loud bang).
Firework – a device that is designed to be burned or ignited in order to yield a visible and/or audio effect.
Flare – a device containing a combustible composition that burns for several minutes, sometimes used to light display fireworks. Flares can also used as emergency safety devices (i.e. road flare or distress signal).
Flash powder – a combustible mixture of oxidizer and a metallic fuel, which can explode when confined.
Fountain – a ground device that emits showers of sparks several feet in the air.
Fuse – a flammable string which when lit provides a time delay before igniting a firework.
Fireworks Terms G-P
Ground Item – a device that is lit on the ground and does not shoot into the air. (i.e. sparklers, smoke bombs, fountains, snaps, snakes, pops, etc.)
Jumping Jack – a small device that spin rapidly emit sparks.
Helicopter (aka Plane) – a device that spins very fast and lifts high into the air, and then bursts into a salute and/or visual effect.
M80 – a ground salute originally designed as an artillery simulator, and illegal under consumer fireworks laws.
Missile – a rocket that does not have a stick (i.e. bottle rocket).
Mortar – an aerial shell with a lift charge fired from a tube. Some mortar tubes are intended for multiple uses.
Novelty Firework – an item with a limited potential to harm people or property (i.e. snaps, snakes, or poppers).
Parachute – a projectile shot from a mortar tube, and slowly floats back to the ground.
Punk – a stick with a coating that is design to burn slowly (smolder), and is used to light consumer fireworks.
Fireworks Terms R – Z
Report – a loud bang sound.
Rocket (see also Bottle Rocket and Missile) – a pyrotechnic device intended to fly straight into the air.
Roman Candle – a filled with a combustible composition that shoots one or more flaming balls from the tube into the air.
Safe and Sane – a classification of fireworks that do not have aerial effects or explode (i.e. sparklers, snaps, smoke balls, fountains, snakes)., and (in some cases) wheels.
Salute – an item that explodes and produces a loud report. Category includes both ground and aerial devices.
Shell – an aerial device fired into the air, typically consisting of a fuse, a lift charge, and a filled burst charge.
Silver Salute (see M80)
Smoke Bomb – an intended to produce smoke instead of light or noise
Snake – a hard pellet that, when lit, produce an expanding carbon ribbon.
Snap – a paper ball filled with a composition that produce a report when thrown.
Sparkler – a stick with a coating of pyrotechnic composition that creates sparks when lit.
Wheel – a stationary device that spins and creates a circular ring of fire and sparks.
Whistle – a tube filled with a composition that makes a sharp howling sound.
More Fireworks Information
CPSC Fireworks Fact Sheet
Learn about hiring Meier Fire as your Fireworks Accident Expert
Fireworks Safety Tips Infographic
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