fight fire with fire

verb

To respond to an attack with a similar or identical counter-attack (e.g. to respond to gunfire with reciprocal gunfire).

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Meanings

verbfight fire with fire (third-person singular simple present fights fire with fire, present participle fighting fire with fire, simple past and past participle fought fire with fire)

present singular third person fights fire with fire · participle present fighting fire with fire · participle past fought fire with fire · past fought fire with fire

  1. idiomaticTo respond to an attack with a similar or identical counter-attack (e.g. to respond to gunfire with reciprocal gunfire).

    Fight fire with fire

    2010 July 27, Blizzard, quoting Firebat, StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, v1.0, Blizzard Entertainment, Microsoft Windows
    2 more examples

    Close enough but not too far / Maybe you know where you are / Fightin' fire with fire

    1983, Talking Heads, “Burning Down the House”, in Speaking in Tongues

    The Democratic Party’s organizers have found plenty of voters who are eager for the chance to stand against the president and, in Newsom’s words, “fight fire with fire” in the gerrymandering wars.

    2025 October 27, Russell Berman, “‘California Is Allowed to Hit Back’”, in The Atlantic

Origin

Either from the practice of starting back fires to prevent the uncontrolled spread of wildfires, or from gunfire which is fought by firing back at the enemy.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian клин клин изби́ва
  • клин клин изби́ва (klin klin izbíva)respond to an attack with a counter-attack
Catalan combatre el foc amb foc
  • combatre el foc amb focrespond to an attack with a counter-attack
Chinese Mandarin 以毒攻毒
  • 以毒攻毒 (yǐdúgōngdú)respond to an attack with a counter-attack
Danish bekæmpe ild med ild
  • bekæmpe ild med ildrespond to an attack with a counter-attack
Dutch vuur met vuur bestrijden
  • vuur met vuur bestrijdenrespond to an attack with a counter-attack
Finnish panna kova kovaa vastaan, taistella tulella tulta vastaan
  • panna kova kovaa vastaanrespond to an attack with a counter-attack
  • taistella tulella tulta vastaanrespond to an attack with a counter-attack
French combattre le mal par le mal, combattre le feu par le feu
  • combattre le mal par le malrespond to an attack with a counter-attack
  • combattre le feu par le feurespond to an attack with a counter-attack
German Feuer mit Feuer bekämpfen
  • Feuer mit Feuer bekämpfenrespond to an attack with a counter-attack
Hindi विरोधपूर्ण तरीका इस्तेमाल करना
  • विरोधपूर्ण तरीका इस्तेमाल करना (virodhpūrṇ tarīkā istemāl karnā)respond to an attack with a counter-attack
Icelandic berjast eld með eldi
  • berjast eld með eldirespond to an attack with a counter-attack
Italian combattere alla pari, combattere ad armi pari
  • combattere alla parirespond to an attack with a counter-attack
  • combattere ad armi parirespond to an attack with a counter-attack
Norwegian bekjempe ild med ild
  • bekjempe ild med ildrespond to an attack with a counter-attack
Polish wybijać klin klinem, wybić klin klinem
  • wybijać klin klinemrespond to an attack with a counter-attack
  • wybić klin klinemrespond to an attack with a counter-attack
Portuguese combater fogo com fogo
  • combater fogo com fogorespond to an attack with a counter-attack
Romanian a scoate cuiul cu cui, a răspunde la foc cu foc
  • a scoate cuiul cu cuirespond to an attack with a counter-attack
  • a răspunde la foc cu focrespond to an attack with a counter-attack
Spanish combatir el fuego con fuego
  • combatir el fuego con fuegorespond to an attack with a counter-attack
Swedish ont skall med ont fördrivas, sätta hårt mot hårt
  • ont skall med ont fördrivasrespond to an attack with a counter-attack
  • sätta hårt mot hårtrespond to an attack with a counter-attack
Turkish ateşe ateşle karşılık vermek
  • ateşe ateşle karşılık vermekrespond to an attack with a counter-attack
Urdu مخالفت مکمل طریقہ استعمال کرنا
  • مخالفت مکمل طریقہ استعمال کرنا (muxālifat mukamil tarīqā istemāl karnā)respond to an attack with a counter-attack
Vietnamese lấy độc trị độc, dĩ độc trị độc
  • lấy độc trị độcrespond to an attack with a counter-attack
  • dĩ độc trị độcrespond to an attack with a counter-attack
Cite this entry
APA

fight fire with fire. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fight%20fire%20with%20fire

MLA

“fight fire with fire.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fight%20fire%20with%20fire. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “fight fire with fire,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fight%20fire%20with%20fire.

Source: fight fire with fire on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.