rapid-fire
adjective
rap·id-fire
ˌra-pəd-ˈfī(-ə)r 
1
: firing or adapted for firing shots in rapid succession
2
: marked by rapidity, liveliness, or sharpness
a comedian with a rapid-fire delivery
Synonyms
Examples of rapid-fire in a Sentence
the witness stayed unruffled all through the prosecutor's rapid-fire questioning
Recent Examples on the Web
On a recent day, in a remote forest near Greece’s border with Albania, workers set off a series of rapid-fire explosions that raced along a wide path cut through the woods.
—
Max Bearak Hilary Swift, New York Times, 31 May 2024
The May showcase promises to be a rapid-fire event.
—Andrew Webster, The Verge, 30 May 2024
The rapid-fire series of customer-friendly announcements isn’t a coincidence, economists told ABC News, as many companies fight over customers who are pinching pennies after a prolonged bout of elevated prices.
—Max Zahn, ABC News, 23 May 2024
Employing oodles of archive footage, a nonstop voiceover by Stone that explains everything to us at all times, and a long interview conducted with Lula during his campaign for reelection in 2022, the film plays like an exhausting rapid-fire crash course in contemporary Brazilian politics.
—Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Mercury is, after all, the fastest planet in our solar system, and the messenger planet’s swift speed reflects this Air Sign’s keen intellect and rapid-fire thoughts.
—Valerie Mesa, Peoplemag, 21 May 2024
Cheng said that unlike the 2008 crisis, which was largely caused by structural failures at banks, the recent crisis was mostly driven by a flurry of rapid-fire customer withdrawals—which occurred faster than ever thanks to the ubiquity of mobile banking.
—Leo Schwartz, Fortune, 15 May 2024
At other moments Carax more succinctly expresses his views, such as in a rapid-fire montage of world leaders that groups together Putin, Trump, Kim Jong-il and Benjamin Netanyahu.
—Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
When Representative Aaron Bean of Florida, the first-term Republican who led the hearing, opened with a series of rapid-fire questions — Does Israel have the right to exist as a Jewish state?
—Michael Levenson, New York Times, 8 May 2024
Max Bearak Hilary Swift, New York Times, 31 May 2024
The May showcase promises to be a rapid-fire event.
—Andrew Webster, The Verge, 30 May 2024
The rapid-fire series of customer-friendly announcements isn’t a coincidence, economists told ABC News, as many companies fight over customers who are pinching pennies after a prolonged bout of elevated prices.
—Max Zahn, ABC News, 23 May 2024
Employing oodles of archive footage, a nonstop voiceover by Stone that explains everything to us at all times, and a long interview conducted with Lula during his campaign for reelection in 2022, the film plays like an exhausting rapid-fire crash course in contemporary Brazilian politics.
—Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Mercury is, after all, the fastest planet in our solar system, and the messenger planet’s swift speed reflects this Air Sign’s keen intellect and rapid-fire thoughts.
—Valerie Mesa, Peoplemag, 21 May 2024
Cheng said that unlike the 2008 crisis, which was largely caused by structural failures at banks, the recent crisis was mostly driven by a flurry of rapid-fire customer withdrawals—which occurred faster than ever thanks to the ubiquity of mobile banking.
—Leo Schwartz, Fortune, 15 May 2024
At other moments Carax more succinctly expresses his views, such as in a rapid-fire montage of world leaders that groups together Putin, Trump, Kim Jong-il and Benjamin Netanyahu.
—Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
When Representative Aaron Bean of Florida, the first-term Republican who led the hearing, opened with a series of rapid-fire questions — Does Israel have the right to exist as a Jewish state?
—Michael Levenson, New York Times, 8 May 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'rapid-fire.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near rapid-fire
Cite this Entry
“Rapid-fire.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rapid-fire. Accessed 6 Jun. 2024.
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