miss fire
Fail to achieve the anticipated result, as in Recycling cardboard seemed like a good idea but it missed fire. First recorded in 1727, this phrase originally described a firearm failing to go off and has been used figuratively since the mid-1800s.
Words Nearby miss fire
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
How to use miss fire in a sentence
Theres lots o marksmen in this world cant even make a gun go off, an yet they cant miss fire in the next world.
Cursed | George Allan EnglandAn ordinary gun might miss fire—such things have been known before now—but a cornstalk gun, never!
The Bishop and the Boogerman | Joel Chandler HarrisJust then the thought occurred to me, “What would be my fate should my gun miss fire?”
Adventures in Africa | W.H.G. KingstonI prayed that my arm might be nerved, that my hand might not tremble, and that my rifle might not miss fire.
Dick Onslow | W.H.G. Kingston"I seldom miss fire," said Mr. Symmes, with a look of honest pride.
Little Robins Learning to Fly | Madeline Leslie
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