miss fire

Idioms  

1. 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.

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Example Sentences

You see, if by any chance our trap should miss fire, and they come after us, they’d head along the straight road to Gandela.

From In the Whirl of the Rising by Mitford, Bertram

You don’t waste words, Wyllis, but you never miss fire.

From A Collection of Stories, Reviews and Essays by Cather, Willa Sibert

It’s too good a gun to be thrown away; and I can say that it don’t miss fire once in ten times.

From The Tiger Hunter by Reid, Mayne

"Anglicism" and "British gold" were blunderbusses which, in the present popular irritation against France, had for a time lost their usefulness, and were apt to miss fire.

From James Madison by Gay, Sydney Howard

There isn't one chance in a thousand for us to miss fire, but you must follow—not lead.

From John Marsh's Millions by Hornblow, Arthur

Related Words

• abort
• fall through