draw fire
English edit
Verb edit
draw fire (third-person singular simple present draws fire, present participle drawing fire, simple past drew fire, past participle drawn fire)
- (literal, also figurative) In an armed encounter, to attract gunfire from an adversary, whether unintentionally or deliberately for the purpose of allowing one's allies or colleagues to gain a tactical advantage over the adversary.
- 1894, G. A. Henty, chapter 4, in Through the Sikh War:
- "If you find only a handful of men there, drive them off; if they are in force, get near enough to draw their fire and find out their strength."
- 1940 May, “Overseas Railways: Acceleration Proceeds in U.S.A.”, in Railway Magazine, page 298:
- But the latest Santa Fe development, while not spurring the Rock Island to any further acceleration, has drawn fire from a totally unexpected quarter.
- 2004 November 29, Richard A. Oppel Jr., “Notes Spotted by Soldier Lead G.I.'s to Rebel Cache”, in New York Times, retrieved 20 February 2020:
- Sometimes troops go into insurgent areas for the principal purpose of drawing their fire—so the Americans can shoot back and capture or kill them.
- 2011 May 5, Robert Booth, Saeed Shah, Jason Burke, “Osama bin Laden death”, in Guardian, UK, retrieved 20 February 2020:
- [T]he Navy Seals drew fire from only one al-Qaida gunman and quickly killed him.
- (idiomatic, by extension) To create a distraction that allows one's friends, co-workers, or other associates to gain an advantage over the distracted party.
- 1909, William Dean Howells, chapter 1, in A Hazard of New Fortunes:
- By-the-way, you've never had much talk with Miss Woodburn, have you, March?"
"Not so much as with Miss Woodburn's father."
"Well, he is rather apt to scoop the conversation. I must draw his fire, sometime, when you and Mrs. March are around, and get you a chance with Miss Woodburn."
- (idiomatic, by extension) To attract criticism or an angry reaction.
- 1978 July 12, Robert Metz, “Market Place”, in New York Times, retrieved 20 February 2020:
- The Compugraphics Corporation, a company that once drew fire for its income‐augmenting accounting practices, is making an impression in Wall Street these days with a solid record of quality earnings gains.
- 1979 April 8, Julia O'Faolain, “Certainties Of Loss”, in Washington Post, retrieved 20 February 2020:
- An Irish writer living in Devon, Trevor is alert to the quirks of people on both sides of the Irish Sea […] Bullies and bigots of every stripe draw his fire.
- 2003 November 17, “10 Questions for Les Moonves”, in Time, retrieved 20 February 2020:
- CBS television President Les Moonves has been the man in the hot seat. After a conservative outcry, he abruptly canceled a mini-series about Ronald Reagan, only to draw fire from liberals complaining that he caved in to pressure.