firefight

noun

fire·​fight ˈfī(-ə)r-ˌfīt How to pronounce firefight (audio)
1
a
: a usually brief intense exchange of fire between opposing military units
b
: a hostile confrontation that involves gunfire
2

Examples of firefight in a Sentence

a firefight between police and bank robbers
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
But the team is waiting, having leaned on their confidential informants to build up a makeshift arsenal, and a firefight ensues. Randall Colburn, EW.com, 21 May 2025 One anecdote — where Kyle and his fellow Navy SEALs dine with a pro-insurgency civilian family, ultimately getting into a firefight — never actually happened. Samantha Stutsman, People.com, 23 Apr. 2025 There are car park shootouts, tense showdowns in diners, and most notoriously, one of the best firefights ever committed to screen, shot in downtown LA to a backdrop of screaming pedestrians and raging traffic. Thomas G. Moukawsher, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 Apr. 2025 Much as the concussive sound design, abject lack of context, and indistinguishable casting might suggest that a similar film could have been made about any number of firefights, Garland’s forensic attention to the minutiae of what happened proves unexpectedly personal by the end. David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 28 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for firefight

Word History

First Known Use

1899, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of firefight was in 1899

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Cite this Entry

“Firefight.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/firefight. Accessed 28 May. 2025.

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