Dictionary

frontfire en · VERB

Etymology

From front + fire, coined as an opposite for backfire (and not usually seen without it).

Meanings

1. To have the intended effect.
   • I realized that speaking up now might backfire on me later, but there was a slim chance it could frontfire, too. 2010, Steve Pavlina, Personal Development for Smart People, →ISBN, page vi:
   • I want to discuss that false psychic you paid to bring Heather messages from the dead. It was a thoughtful idea, but one that backfired and then, ultimately, in its own way, frontfired, giving Heather more hope than you’d imagine. 2003, Douglas Coupland, Hey Nostradamus!, →ISBN:
   • Talking of backfire, frontfire or whatever, John Carroll can give it both barrels, and simultaneously. 2002 August 18, Liam Griffin, “For the championship’s sake, it must be Tipp”, in Sunday Tribune (Dublin, Ireland):

Forms