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fire off

Idioms  
  1. Say or write and send away rapidly, as in He fired off three more questions, or She fired off a letter of complaint to the president. This expression originally (from about 1700) was, and still is, used in the sense of “discharge a weapon or ammunition,” as in The police were instructed to fire off canisters of tear gas. The figurative use dates from the late 1800s.


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

It’s common for lawmakers and advocacy groups to fire off outraged letters about a company’s alleged wrongdoing.

From Salon ● Sep. 1, 2026

A navy vessel and other ships rushed in Wednesday to rescue over 100 people from a ferry on fire off the tourist island of Bali, officials said, in the second such incident in days.

From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026

But he did fire off a post accusing the British government of seeking "any excuse" for censorship.

From BBC ● Jan. 12, 2026

The BOT can fire off more rate cuts, but it is running out of ammunition.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2025

They began to fire off text after text as Moss headed for his room.

From "Anger Is a Gift" by Mark Oshiro

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