under fire

Idioms  

1. Criticized or held responsible, as in The landlord is under fire for not repairing the roof. This expression originally referred to being within range of enemy guns; its figurative use dates from the late 1800s.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

under fire

He is not alone in using his phone to conduct video interviews with prospective employers — but doing so has come under fire recently.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026

Gulf nations that host U.S. facilities came under fire overnight.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026

OpenAI has since come under fire for failing to report the suspect's account to police, prompting a written apology to the victims' families by CEO Sam Altman.

From BBC ● Jun. 10, 2026

The second-place candidate will go head-to-head in November with incumbent Bass, a Democratic former congresswoman first elected to lead the second-largest US city in 2022, who has come under fire during her time in office.

From Barron's ● Jun. 9, 2026

They found no sympathy for the misery and terror they’d endured at sea, no appreciation for the fact that they’d kept their heads under fire and prevented a catastrophic war.

From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin