to open fire
2
4.3
- phrasal verb
- NSFW
:
abrir fuego contra
- Open fire!
Examples
-
The soldiers received the command to open fire when they spotted the enemy approaching.
-
Police, open fire!
Blog text (3) -
- Ready to open fire, sir.
-
Recommend open fire into the crowd.
-
They are ready to open fire on the mob.
-
Repeat, open fire!
-
Open fire!
-
On October 8, 2002, two Kuwaitis linked to Al-Qaeda opened fire on U.S. Marines, killing one.
Academic text (2008) -
After the protesters became violent, the police decided to open fire to disperse the crowd.
-
The general ordered his troops to open fire at dawn to catch their adversaries off guard.
Synonyms
∞
1.8
Fire a gun at a person or animal to try to kill
∞
1.3
To use force to hurt people or damage things
5
6.4
Begin attacking or acting aggressively to gain an advantage
1
7.7
To shoot a gun again and again quickly
1
6.3
To fire many shots quickly or say many words quickly
Antonyms
How Aggressive
43
7.9
1
8.0
- NSFW
2
4.3
548
3.2
701
3.3
589
1.7
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to begin shooting' is directly and compositionally derived from 'open' (to start) + 'fire' (the firing of guns), so a B1 learner who knows both words can infer the verb sense. The extended sense 'to attack aggressively with criticism' is a predictable metaphorical extension of 'fire' as taking shots, which remains transparent for learners familiar with the literal sense.
Etymology
Open fire was later used as a strong picture: if someone 'opened fire' with words, it felt like starting a real attack with guns, so the phrase came to mean 'to begin attacking aggressively', often with criticism.