open fire

1. Begin a verbal attack, as in In her second letter to the editor she opened fire, saying the reporter had deliberately misquoted her. This idiom alludes to discharging a firearm. [Mid-1800s]

Example Sentences

"We don't have our lights on outside yet, because we've got to keep our costs down," Fitzgerald told AFP sat near an open fire heating the pub's interior.

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That September, while I was dreaming about babies, a German battleship opened fire on Polish troops.

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This is where she hid with her five siblings, mum and aunt when US marines stormed into their home and opened fire, killing everyone apart from Safa, on 19 November 2005.

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Then others in the gang opened fire with Kalashnikovs on people drinking in bars and cafés not far from the Bataclan.

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Six Sri Lankan players were wounded in March 2009 when gunmen opened fire on their team bus as it was taking them to Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore for a Test match.

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Related Words

• barrage 
• batter 
• besiege 
• blast 
• blitz 
• bomb 
• harass 
• hound 
• pester 
• strafe