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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

under fire en · ADP

Pronunciation

  • (Southern-England) audio
  • /ˈʌndɚ faɪɚ/ (General-American)
  • /ˈʌndə faɪə/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Meanings

  1. Subjected to enemy attack with firearms.
    • coolness under fire
    • Enlisted personnel are thoroughly trained and stay calm under fire. Turian units don't break. Even if their entire line collapses, they fall back in order, setting ambushes as they go. 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Turians: Military Doctrine Codex entry:
    • courage under fire
  2. (figuratively) Criticized or held responsible for something.
    • Over the past two years, particularly in 2018, Network Rail has come under fire about its approaches to trackside tree-felling across its 52,000-hectare estate. Conservationists accused it of wanton destruction. 2020 June 3, Andrew Mourant, “A safer railway in a greener habitat”, in Rail, page 58:
    • Meanwhile, the government's own Human Services department is under fire from the Ombudsman for its failure to protect children in its care. 2009, Michael O'Connor, Quadrant, November 2009, No. 461 (Volume LIII, Number 11), Quadrant Magazine Limited, page 2
    • The clerk had, I'm afraid, a shrew of a wife—shrill, vehement, and fluent. […] He had learned, by long experience, the best tactique under fire: he became actually taciturn; or, if he spoke, his speech was laconic and enigmatical; sometimes throwing out a proverb, and sometimes a text; and sometimes when provoked past endurance, spouting mildly a little bit of meek and venomous irony. 1863, Sheridan Le Fanu, The House by the Churchyard:
    • grace under fire

Relateds

under the magnifying glass · under the microscope · under the gun

Translations (10)

es estar en la mira (criticized for something) · cmn 遭受槍火 /遭受枪火 (subject to enemy attack with firearms) · fi tulituksessa (subject to enemy attack with firearms) · cmn 被槍火攻擊 /被枪火攻击 (subject to enemy attack with firearms) · cmn 被問責 /被问责 (criticized for something) · cmn 受批評 /受批评 (criticized for something) · cmn 在槍火下 /在枪火下 (subject to enemy attack with firearms) · cmn 被指責 /被指责 (criticized for something) · fi tulituksessa (criticized for something) · nl onder vuur (criticized for something)