Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

baptism

 noun
     
NEW! See related topics: CHRISTIANITY
bap‧tis‧m [uncountable and countable]
1RRC a Christian religious ceremony in which someone is touched or covered with water to welcome them into the Christian faith, and sometimes to officially name them [↪ christening]
2

baptism of/by fire

a difficult or painful first experience of something:
The campaign has been a baptism of fire.
—baptismal adjective [only before noun]
a baptismal font (=container for holding the water used at baptism)
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.
 
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