under fire

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.

Example Sentences

Operations in previous cities like Chicago and Los Angeles have come under fire over concerns of excessive use of force.

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A fortnight ago, the UK government came under fire from its own lawmakers following allegations that British-made weapons were ending up in the hands of the RSF, who were using them to commit atrocities.

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Salvador Murillo was convinced he and his fellow officers were under fire.

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Pressed on whether he should step aside, she said "when people are under fire, they can go one of two ways".

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Tech giants, including TikTok, X and Facebook, have come under fire for anti-trust practices that the watchdog says hurt local media by limiting their ability to distribute and profit from their digital content.

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