friendly fire

noun

: the firing of weapons from one's own forces or those of an ally especially when resulting in the accidental death or injury of one's own personnel

Near the river bordering our camp I find the tents of the four soldiers who were supposedly hit by friendly fire.

—Janine Di Giovanni

After all, accidental attacks, though tragic, are common in war. In 1967 alone, "friendly fire" killed 5,373 Americans fighting in Vietnam.

—Michael Oren

Examples of friendly fire in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

These rehearsals, still widely unknown and spanning from late 1943 through April 1944, involved dangerous friendly fire and suffered from serious coordination errors, resulting in the real-life deaths of at least 700 American and British soldiers. —Emily Zemler, Los Angeles Times, 29 May 2026

More than 700 soldiers died in the training exercise amid German attacks as well as friendly fire. —Brian Truitt, USA Today, 29 May 2026

Prep for gatherings with a sleek Kelly Clarkson conversation set, then keep the party going with a small-space-friendly fire pit table. —Mariana Best, Better Homes & Gardens, 23 May 2026

The prevailing wisdom at the time was that the President would endorse Cornyn, Paxton would drop out, the friendly fire would stop, and Republican donors could conserve their funds for the general election in November. —Rachel Monroe, New Yorker, 20 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1918, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for friendly fire

• acquire
• attire
• bonfire
• campfire
• ceasefire
• conspire
• desire
• enquire
• entire
• greenbrier
• gunfire
• homebuyer