crossfire

English

Etymology

From cross- +‎ fire.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkɹɒsfaɪə/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈkɹɔːsfaɪɹ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: cross‧fire

Noun

 crossfire on Wikipedia

crossfire (countable and uncountable, plural crossfires)

1. (military) An arrangement of two or more weapons so each can fire diagonally at something in front of a line between them.
2. The danger to a third party passing between two belligerents firing at one another.

   The two factions were either side of the road. A civilian lorry was caught in the crossfire and became collateral damage

3. The danger to a third party passing between a gunman and his target.
   • 2024 May 15, Geneva Abdul, “Woman hit in London drive-by shooting was not intended target, police say”, in The Guardian‎:

     A woman who was caught in the crossfire of a drive-by shooting in north London on Tuesday evening was not the intended target, police have said.

4. (by extension) A heated confrontation between opposing factions.

Translations

lines of fire

Assamese: গুলীয়াগুলী (guliaguli) Bulgarian: кръ́стосан о́гън m (krǎ́stosan ógǎn) Catalan: foc creuat m Chinese: Mandarin: 交火 (zh) (jiāohuǒ) Czech: křížová palba f Danish: krydsild c Finnish: ristituli (fi) French: feux croisés m pl German: Kreuzfeuer (de) f Hebrew: אֵשׁ צוֹלֶבֶת (he) f (esh tzolévet) Hungarian: kereszttűz (hu) Italian: fuoco incrociato m Japanese: 十字砲火 (じゅうじほうか, jūjihōka) Polish: ogień krzyżowy m Portuguese: fogo cruzado m Russian: перекрёстный ого́нь m (perekrjóstnyj ogónʹ) Spanish: fuego cruzado (es) m Swedish: korseld c Turkish: çapraz ateş (tr) Ukrainian: перехре́сний вого́нь m (perexrésnyj vohónʹ)

heated confrontation

Finnish: sanaharkka (fi), kiistely (fi), riita (fi), riitely (fi) Polish: ogień krzyżowy m Portuguese: fogo cruzado m Russian: перекрёстный ого́нь m (perekrjóstnyj ogónʹ) Turkish: çapraz ateş (tr)