open fire

Idioms  

1. Begin a verbal attack, as in In her second letter to the editor she opened fire, saying the reporter had deliberately misquoted her. This idiom alludes to discharging a firearm. [Mid-1800s]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

open fire

Alongside all the outside footage, there is also a moment showing a child's feet in front of an open fire.

From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026

Oli has denied ordering security forces to open fire on protesters, and has told AFP that he blames "infiltrators" for the violence.

From Barron's ● Mar. 8, 2026

Last year, Essayli and Tricia McLaughlin, the chief Homeland Security spokesperson, accused Carlitos Ricardo Parias of ramming immigration agents with his vehicle in South L.A., causing an agent to open fire.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 31, 2026

Williams was on a mission near the peninsula’s north when he saw seven of the Soviet jets appear and eventually open fire, according to a Defense Department account.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 22, 2025

One night in February of ’63, as the family sat around the open fire, a wagon clattered down the road from the north and stopped in front of the house.

From "Across Five Aprils" by Irene Hunt

Related Words

• barrage
• batter
• besiege
• blast
• blitz
• bomb
• harass
• hound
• pester
• strafe