fight fire with fire

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.

Example Sentences

“But I think this is a moment where you gotta fight fire with fire. And so what Gavin is doing, what the California Legislature is doing, what those who are supporting it are doing is to say, ‘You know what, you want to play, then let’s get in the field.

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“We have to respond. We have to fight fire with fire,” he continued, “but I want everyone to know that we’re going to end up with only cinders remaining.”

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That’s a big problem, given that no prominent Democrats seem to be acknowledging that openly, or indeed saying anything other than they’re ready to “fight fire with fire.”

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California Governor Gavin Newsom, whose state is leading the Democratic charge, has pledged to "fight fire with fire" by replicating Texas' actions.

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Republicans in the state Assembly and the state Senate criticized Newsom’s argument that Democrats must “fight fire with fire,” saying retaliation is a slippery slope that would erode the independent redistricting process California voters have chosen twice at the ballot box.

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