draw fire

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English

Verb

draw fire (third-person singular simple present draws fire, present participle drawing fire, simple past drew fire, past participle drawn fire)

  1. (literal, also figurative) In an armed encounter, to attract gunfire from an adversary, whether unintentionally or deliberately for the purpose of allowing one's allies or colleagues to gain a tactical advantage over the adversary.
    • 1894, G. A. Henty, chapter 4, in Through the Sikh War:
      "If you find only a handful of men there, drive them off; if they are in force, get near enough to draw their fire and find out their strength."
    • 1940 May, “Overseas Railways: Acceleration Proceeds in U.S.A.”, in Railway Magazine, page 298:
      But the latest Santa Fe development, while not spurring the Rock Island to any further acceleration, has drawn fire from a totally unexpected quarter.
    • 2004 November 29, Richard A. Oppel Jr., “Notes Spotted by Soldier Lead G.I.'s to Rebel Cache”, in New York Times, retrieved 20 February 2020:
      Sometimes troops go into insurgent areas for the principal purpose of drawing their fire—so the Americans can shoot back and capture or kill them.
    • 2011 May 5, Robert Booth, Saeed Shah, Jason Burke, “Osama bin Laden death”, in Guardian, UK, retrieved 20 February 2020:
      [T]he Navy Seals drew fire from only one al-Qaida gunman and quickly killed him.
  2. (idiomatic, by extension) To create a distraction that allows one's friends, co-workers, or other associates to gain an advantage over the distracted party.
    • 1909, William Dean Howells, chapter 1, in A Hazard of New Fortunes:
      By-the-way, you've never had much talk with Miss Woodburn, have you, March?"
      "Not so much as with Miss Woodburn's father."
      "Well, he is rather apt to scoop the conversation. I must draw his fire, sometime, when you and Mrs. March are around, and get you a chance with Miss Woodburn."
  3. (idiomatic, by extension) To attract criticism or an angry reaction.
    • 1978 July 12, Robert Metz, “Market Place”, in New York Times, retrieved 20 February 2020:
      The Compugraphics Corporation, a company that once drew fire for its income‐augmenting accounting practices, is making an impression in Wall Street these days with a solid record of quality earnings gains.
    • 1979 April 8, Julia O'Faolain, “Certainties Of Loss”, in Washington Post, retrieved 20 February 2020:
      An Irish writer living in Devon, Trevor is alert to the quirks of people on both sides of the Irish Sea […] Bullies and bigots of every stripe draw his fire.
    • 2003 November 17, “10 Questions for Les Moonves”, in Time, retrieved 20 February 2020:
      CBS television President Les Moonves has been the man in the hot seat. After a conservative outcry, he abruptly canceled a mini-series about Ronald Reagan, only to draw fire from liberals complaining that he caved in to pressure.

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