How to Use backfire in a Sentence

backfire

1 of 2 verb

• That said, trying to time the top can backfire.
  — Angelica Leicht, CBS News, 2 Apr. 2026
• Of course, success in that area could backfire.
  — Chris Perkins, Sun Sentinel, 28 May 2026
• But new wealth taxes may backfire.
  — Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN Money, 15 May 2026
• Surely this won’t backfire at all.
  — Ew Staff, Entertainment Weekly, 25 June 2026
• Of course, the gambit could backfire.
  — Greg Iacurci, CNBC, 27 Aug. 2025
• Surely, there is no way this will backfire in any way, shape, or form, right?
  — Austin Perry Outkick, FOXNews.com, 19 Apr. 2026
• Trying to wear your kids out before a flight can backfire.
  — Sherri Gordon, Parents, 26 Aug. 2025
• But what strikes me also is that this is backfiring.
  — Anne Applebaum, The Atlantic, 6 Feb. 2026
• But sometimes that can backfire.
  — Yun Li, CNBC, 11 Sep. 2025
• But new research found that app time limits such as these can backfire.
  — Shira Ovide, Washington Post, 10 Mar. 2023
• Some look good on paper but would backfire in practice.
  — J.d. Hayworth, Boston Herald, 24 Jan. 2026
• Many viewed the coaching change as a risky pivot that could backfire.
  — Alejandro Avila Outkick, FOXNews.com, 26 May 2026
• That seems certain to backfire.
  — Maureen Lee Lenker, Entertainment Weekly, 20 Sep. 2025
• But that structure can backfire.
  — Lily Hautau, CNN Money, 21 Mar. 2026
• If true, that approach backfired.
  — Zack Cox, Hartford Courant, 3 May 2026
• In some cases, overusing a fine-tooth comb could even backfire.
  — Kathleen Ferraro, Verywell Health, 14 Apr. 2026
• But both stoked the public, and that stoking backfired.
  — Jim Cramer, CNBC, 14 June 2026
• The move to Weissert, though, backfired.
  — Jen McCaffrey, New York Times, 8 May 2026
• This is how price controls always backfire.
  — Steven Greenhut, Oc Register, 12 Apr. 2026
• And throwing a bunch of money at kids who are still growing up can backfire.
  — Theo Baker, The Atlantic, 24 Apr. 2026
• In fact, chewing gum too often could backfire if a stronger jawline is the goal.
  — Daryl Austin, USA Today, 27 Aug. 2025
• But banking on the same outcome in court could backfire, Kim said.
  — Sonja Sharp, Los Angeles Times, 9 Feb. 2026
• Indeed, many bans like these have backfired on the Kremlin.
  — Anna Nemtsova, The Atlantic, 30 Sep. 2025
• Many fear the rules could backfire, allowing poachers to cash in on shark fins and jaws.
  — San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Feb. 2023
• Here are the ways a juice cleanse may backfire, especially for gut health.
  — Jillian Kubala, Health, 7 Jan. 2026
• Travel bans may be a temporary fix but can backfire.
  — Dr. Jade Cobern, ABC News, 23 May 2026
• When has being outspoken backfired for you in any way?
  — Preezy Brown, Rolling Stone, 6 Feb. 2026
• Machado’s stance has also led to praise from Guyana, which could backfire on her.
  — Elias Ferrer Breda, Forbes, 30 Nov. 2023
• The ritual will backfire on them.
  — Karu F. Daniels, New York Daily News, 2 Feb. 2026
• If the angle is right, there’s a resounding crack like the sound of a car that’s backfired.
  — Literary Hub, 16 Feb. 2026

backfire

2 of 2 noun

• Crews lit backfires on three sides of the fire overnight to limit its spread, said fire Capt.
  — Joseph Serna, latimes.com, 29 June 2017
• If spot fires breached the highway, firefighters planned to set a backfire to stop it.
  — Los Angeles Times, 23 July 2021
• But swinging at the first pitch backfires if the hitter cannot put it in play at a decent rate.
  — Matt Gelb, Philly.com, 4 Aug. 2017
• Could this in some way backfire on Democrats or erode the public's trust overall?
  — NBC news, 10 Aug. 2025
• Their property was right on the char line where the state had laid a backfire to stop the wildfire in its tracks.
  — Paige St. John, latimes.com, 10 July 2017
• The engine sounds and blasts of sharp exhaust backfire are best heard from inside the cabin.
  — Austin Irwin, Car and Driver, 25 Feb. 2022
• But hoping to achieve you out of their worry almost always backfires.
  — Carolyn Hax, Washington Post, 11 May 2023
• Did Shayna's plan to persuade the court to be lenient backfire?
  — CBS News, 23 Apr. 2017
• But the beauty backfire effect isn’t inevitable.
  — Abby Frank, The Conversation, 5 Nov. 2025
• Stopped our show tonight due to a motorcycle backfire that was mistaken for a bomb or a shooting.
  — CBS News, 7 Aug. 2019
• This attempt at extortion backfires in a way that could only happen to Greg.
  — Julie Kosin, Harper's BAZAAR, 2 Sep. 2019
• Leehmann thought fire managers were waiting too long to set the backfire on Forest Service land.
  — Los Angeles Times, 23 July 2021
• But his clever escape backfires as The Republic turns out to be a slave ship bound for Africa.
  — Hannah Herrera Greenspan, chicagotribune.com, 5 Dec. 2019
• But the information drop was an epic backfire and helped spawn opposition groups that exist to this day.
  — Jason Daley, Discover Magazine, 2 Oct. 2011
• And, avoiding breakfast for the sake of a larger meal later in the day typically backfires.
  — Rebecca Jaspan, Mph, Rd, Health, 23 Nov. 2023
• When Denker is forced to attempt a broth, which is awful — to the delight of Spratt — his scheming backfires.
  — Washington Post, 10 Sep. 2019
• China isn’t the only country to see some of its virus assistance backfire in Europe.
  — Andrea Dudik, Fortune, 1 Apr. 2020
• At a certain point, though, the reward of opposing Sanders is worth the risk of seeing an attack backfire.
  — Jay Heflin, Washington Examiner, 15 Feb. 2020
• Maybe, because in a few minutes the Jag backfires and inexplicably stalls.
  — John Schandelmeier, Anchorage Daily News, 26 Mar. 2023
• That decision backfires, with Kora on hand to channel her friends' shock and fear into anger and a willingness to fight back.
  — Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 13 Nov. 2023
• When Holly's attempt to deal with the haters backfires, Holly wonders if some topics are off limits.
  — Michelle Krupa, CNN, 3 Nov. 2019
• But as the parties gear up for midterm elections and beyond, could the sharp questioning backfire on the GOP?
  — ABC News, 27 Mar. 2022
• Logitech has also designed the K380 keys with an ample amount of travel and a nice backfire from each keypress.
  — Jacob Krol, CNN Underscored, 7 July 2020
• Times Square was sent into a panic about a motorcycle backfire that, many in the crowd assumed, was the latest gunfire in a public place.
  — Kathryn Jean Lopez, National Review, 12 Aug. 2019
• To call this a TABOR backfire would be an understatement for the ages.
  — Sean Camacho, Denver Post, 4 Mar. 2026
• The Reds had a sacrifice bunt call backfire in a tie game against the Colorado Rockies on May 15.
  — Bobby Nightengale, The Enquirer, 18 Sep. 2021
• The enchantment, however, backfires halfway through and now the siblings have to journey across the land to find the items needed to fully restore their dead father.
  — Nick Romano, EW.com, 17 Dec. 2019
• Casting the purpose of AVs as products that increase safety (rather than, say, convenience) could even cause a backfire effect.
  — Iyad Rahwan, WSJ, 6 Apr. 2021
• His next sketch is an effort at self-lampooning, that backfires as soon as Ibra realises what the writers were trying to do, and kung-fu kicks them into, yes, oblivion.
  — SI.com, 9 Oct. 2019
• Ah, the fateful moment when Joey, crammed in the back seat of a cop car with Ross and Chandler, hears a gunshot (car backfire) and leaps over Ross.
  — Washington Post, 25 May 2021