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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:

There must be no prep involved, so they can just show up to the set and fire off some lines, right?

From Salon Jul. 12, 2026

That’s all it took for the Seattle Storm’s Flau’jae Johnson to fire off a 27-foot three-point jumper to take the lead.

From Los Angeles Times Jul. 7, 2026

Ezekowitz prioritizes teams that take care of the ball and fire off more shots, which is why he likes the Mustangs’ chances more than most if they get through Wednesday’s play-in game.

From The Wall Street Journal Mar. 18, 2026

We were getting in our cars when we heard that there was another fire, off the 101 Freeway — so we didn’t want to risk driving that way.

From Los Angeles Times May 4, 2025

He and I wowed the people who came to see our exhibits, telling them about our studies and what it was like to fire off a real rocket.

From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam

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