firefightnoun [ C ]
uk/ˈfaɪə.faɪt/us/ˈfaɪr.faɪt/a fight, often unexpected, between opposing groups of soldiers in which they shoot at each other:
The opposing units opened fire simultaneously at close range and a 15-minute firefight ensued.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Fighting
- a fight to the finish idiom
- action stations
- bloodless
- bloodletting
- brawl
- counterinsurgency
- disturbance
- dust-up
- engagement
- fighting
- fistfight
- fisticuffs
- fray
- he who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day idiom
- hotspot
- last
- mano a mano
- pick
- shoot
- slug
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firefightverb [ I ]
uk/ˈfaɪə.faɪt/us/ˈfaɪr.faɪt/UK US put out fires to spend time on problems that need to be dealt with quickly, instead of working in a calm, planned way:
Will the new manager be able to do anything other than firefight?
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Dealing with things or people
- attend to sb/sth
- beard the lion (in his/her den) idiom
- come up against sth
- come/get to grips with sth idiom
- confront
- cut
- firefighting
- get sth in
- inherit
- jump-start
- negotiate
- overcome
- process
- reckon
- reckon with sb/sth
- see about sth
- see to sth/sb
- set about sth
- turn
- weather
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