Definition of BACKFIRE

Examples of backfire in a Sentence

Verb

my plan to throw her a surprise party backfired when she ended up sobbing that everyone had forgotten her birthday

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

Their small farm was repossessed after an investment in a friend backfired. — Tristan Gooley, WSJ, "Summer Books 2019: Walking," 24 May 2019 Authorities said a separate rebel assault on a police station in eastern Victoria town backfired Thursday when officers fought back and killed three insurgents and captured three others. — Jim Gomez, The Seattle Times, "Philippine communist rebels mark 50th year with new attacks," 29 Mar. 2019 On Tuesday, an attempt to boost that stock backfired, dropping its share price 50 percent. — Bijan Stephen, The Verge, "MoviePass was down last night because it ran out of money," 27 July 2018 When many of those investments backfired, taxpayers ended up picking up the tab through hundreds of billions of dollars in bailouts. — Jim Puzzanghera, latimes.com, "Fed taking first step to scale back Volcker Rule limits on bank trading enacted after financial crisis," 30 May 2018 How did a Pennsylvania Democratic party rule that was created to help women get elected end up backfiring earlier this month? — Aubrey Nagle, Philly.com, "Parents silenced in family court, LOVE sculpture artist dies | Morning Newsletter," 22 May 2018 While his new organizational structure brings more efficiency in the short term, Xi and his Communist party face more blame if policies backfire, economic growth stalls or there is a collapse in the financial system. — Robert Hutton, Bloomberg.com, "A Hunt for Evidence Tying Russia to Nerve Gas Attack," 8 Mar. 2018 At work, her pragmatic approach to managing a racist school administrator backfired when her idealistic boss called into question her motives and judgment. — Julia Felsenthal, Vogue, "How Insecure Gets Political While Ignoring Trump," 10 Aug. 2018 Research suggests that our efforts to be super clean may be backfiring. — Tori Rodriguez, Woman's Day, "5 "Bad" Habits That Are Actually Good for You," 3 Aug. 2016

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

Nearly 3,000 firefighters have been working around the clock, lighting backfires and building a containment line, in an effort to keep the flames at bay. — John Blackstone, CBS News, "Thousands of firefighters battling massive wildfires in western U.S.," 4 July 2018 Here's how Cal Fire is gaining ground in containing the 82,700-acre County Fire Advertisement Cal Fire crews are lighting backfires to contain the massive County Fire in Napa and Yolo counties near Lake Berryessa. — Benjy Egel, sacbee, "County Fire swells to nearly 83,000 acres as firefighters inch closer to containment," 4 July 2018 But Smith made the decision backfire when his single made it 2-0. — Clark Spencer, miamiherald, "It was 1993 all over again as teal-clad Marlins take care of Padres," 8 June 2018 So is talk of a Trump summit with Putin — unless the president bluntly confronts the Russian leader about his cyber espionage in Europe and the U.S. >> READ MORE: Will Trump’s deal-making backfire and embroil U.S. in new wars? — Trudy Rubin, Philly.com, "Trump pummels G-7 democratic allies but loves autocrats | Trudy Rubin," 8 June 2018 If its wager backfires, everyday low prices will be where Walmart least wants it: in the stock price. — Charley Grant, WSJ, "Healthy Skepticism About Walmart and Humana," 30 Mar. 2018 Praise for White's performance in Pyeongchang caught backfire on social media at a time when #MeToo and other movements are calling for more accountability about harassment and abuse. — Thr Staff, The Hollywood Reporter, "Olympic Champion Shaun White Refers to Sexual Misconduct Lawsuit as "Gossip"," 14 Feb. 2018 Praise for White's performance in Pyeongchang caught backfire on social media at a time when #MeToo and other movements are calling for more accountability about harassment and abuse. — Jake Seiner, Houston Chronicle, "Shaun White apologizes for comments on sexual misconduct lawsuit," 14 Feb. 2018 Praise for White's performance in Pyeongchang caught backfire on social media at a time when #MeToo and other movements are calling for more accountability about harassment and abuse. — chicagotribune.com, "Shaun White refers to sexual misconduct lawsuit as 'gossip'," 14 Feb. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'backfire.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.