open fire

open fire idiom
Begin a verbal attack, as in In her second letter to the editor she opened fire, saying the reporter had deliberately misquoted her. This idiom alludes to discharging a firearm. [Mid-1800s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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