under fire


Criticized or held responsible, as in The landlord is under fire for not repairing the roof. This expression originally referred to being within range of enemy guns; its figurative use dates from the late 1800s.

Words Nearby under fire

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

How to use under fire in a sentence

  • Calm under fire, he possessed a sure and penetrating coup d'œil; he had great experience in war.

    Napoleon's Marshals | R. P. Dunn-Pattison
  • As they drew near they came under fire of our destroyers and of the Anzac guns and were badly knocked about and broken up.

  • It is strange to hear of people playing football out here—we ourselves are under fire every minute.

  • As we approached these, a heavy fight was in progress, and we came under fire of the spent bullets.

  • (p. 356) Hinks's division of the Eighteenth Corps was composed of colored troops, who had never been under fire.

    The Boys of '61 | Charles Carleton Coffin.