fight fire with fire

Idioms  

1. Combat an evil or negative circumstances by reacting in kind. For example, When the opposition began a smear campaign, we decided to fight fire with fire. Although ancient writers from Plato to Erasmus cautioned that one should not add fire to fire, this warning is not incorporated in the idiom, which was first recorded in Shakespeare's Coriolanus.

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Example Sentences

We need to fight fire with fire.

From The Wall Street Journal

“All you can do is fight fire with fire.”

From Los Angeles Times

“We started to fight fire with fire,” says Kellogg associate professor Sébastien Martin, who created the tool—not as a shortcut but to slow students down and force them to think and engage.

From The Wall Street Journal

It’s necessary to fight fire with fire — and in this case, that means fighting performance with performance.

From Salon

And he’s betting the house on his deep-blue state’s willingness to fight fire with fire.

From Los Angeles Times