 | Artillery Shell | An artillery shell is generally a 1 ½ inch artillery shell which its fuse is unwound, the artillery dropped into a long tube, lit, and then launched into the air to create a burst/effect. Artillery shells come from one break to six breaks in one launch. |
 | Firecracker | Firework that explodes with a report. |
 | Fountain | Firework which emits showers of sparks, crackling, whistles, and/or bees which goes no higher than seven feet in the air and does not contain reports. |
 | Headbomb | Typically a hexagon shaped explosive which is lit and a huge cluster of firecrackers are set off almost simultaneously. Amount and sizes vary. |
 | Mine | Firework that shoots up a wide array of crackling, color, and effects as if it were a fountain but going much higher and often with a single aerial shot exploding far overhead. |
 | Missile | Rocket-shaped ground to air device often in plastic or cardboard structures which rises into the air and explodes with a burst/effect. |
 | Missile Battery | Normally arranged in a "brick" form missiles come in groups of 25 to 700 of tiny black capsules that project, whistle, and then report. |
 | Multi-Shot Cake | Normally a box shaped firework that once lit continues to shoot out multiple shots with assorted colors and effects. Shots can start at 7 and up to well over a hundred per cake. Many effects sound, color, and display arrange together in these finales. |
 | Parachute | Normally contained within a single shot tube, but also found in rockets and multi-shot cakes; parachutes shoot up into the air then their paper or plastic parachute attached to either smoke, a strobe light, or a plastic army guy will open up and float back down to the ground. |
 | Rocket | Arial projectiles that are mounted on a stick. Stick is set in a lunching tube or heavy bottle so that it can easily take off from the ground and launch into the air where it explodes with a burst/effect. Many have tails and good height. |
 | Roman Candle | A tube firework that shots multiple flaming balls most often with different colors and reports but other times with special effects and various noise effects. |
 | Smoke | |
| Sparkler | |
 | Spinner | Normally a ground to air firework that has wings - but not necessarily has to have them - that spin raise into the air with a zinging noise and often color. Some end with a report some do not. |
| Angled | An angled effect is actually how the firework is physically set up; what it means is that the tubes of the fireworks are pointed at an angle in different directions and positions rather then having all of the shots pointed straight up like with a standard multi-shot cake. |
| Bouquet | Multiple breaks of small chrysanthemums. |
| Brocade Crown | A huge chrysanthemum with an enhanced center. |
| Burst/Break | Generic term for the display given by any aerial fireworks. |
| Chrysanthemum | Very full and colorful large break in the sky that falls back downwards after a large spray outwards. |
| Coconuts | Almost a perfect sphere shaped burst of white/silver light. |
| Comet | Trail of colored light that shots into the air often without a burst or report at the end. |
| Core | Enhanced middle of a firework's burst which is often a different color and more densely packed then the rest of the firework. |
| Crackling | Often displayed in a golden color crackling is actually a noise effect. |
| Double Breaks | Two burst with one original shot/shell into the air. |
| Dragon Eggs | Glowing spheres that fall and grow gently. |
| Dragon Tail | Bright glowing light that follows an ascending firework into the sky. |
| Glitter | Sometimes accompanied by quick crackling, but can be silent; normally silver glittering light that accompanies another effect with a contrasting color. |
| Leaves | Slowly fluttering downward spots of various colors that drift like leaves. |
| Pearl | Small ball of light that you can view as it rises into the sky. |
| Peony | Spike-like burst that projects to creates the image of jetting through space. |
| Pistil | Tentacle type break that jets out in different directions with a small amount of limbs but thick coverage. |
| Popcorn | A loud silver spherical shaped display with crackling effect that breaks in huge numbers all at once to fill the display with a sky full of crackling brightness. |
| Quicken(ed) | The speeding up of times between shots in a multi-shot cake or Saturn Missile toward the end of the display. |
| Report | A loud explosion. |
| Ring Shell | An effect that shoots straight out to create a large circle/ring in the sky. The outer ring has a bright strong light to it while the inside lines/trails are softer light creating almost a Ferris wheel in the sky. |
| Showers | Sparks projecting and falling back to the ground continuously. Normally only found in color wheels, novelties, and fountains. |
| Stars | Multiple shimmering lights that often crackle and come in different colors. |
| Strobe | Flashing light normally made from magnesium. |
| Swimming Fish | Break that once in the air opens up and multiple squiggly lights shoot off into various directions. |
| Swirling Tail | Trail of light that follows the firework/shell into the sky with a spiraled effect on the way up. |
| Tail | Trial of light that follows the firework/shell into the sky. |
| Two Level | Often found in cakes; one half of the cake's energy focuses on a ground display and the second half is based on aerial performance. |
| Wave | A color wave that much like the swimming fish squiggles across the sky. |
| Whirlwinds | A spinning disk that is normally golden and quite loud, some with reports on the end, some without. |
| Willows | Slow falling golden palm like firework, often with a hint of silver glitter. |
