fire at will

phrase

Fire when ready. As a command, it orders troops to use weapons at their discretion and choose their own targets, allowing the individual soldier a greater freedom of timing the shot with target movement and similar.

“Fire at will!  [imperative]”

Opposite
hold fire
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

phrase
  1. governmentFire when ready. As a command, it orders troops to use weapons at their discretion and choose their own targets, allowing the individual soldier a greater freedom of timing the shot with target movement and similar.

    Fire at will!  [imperative]

    2 more examples

    Once we're in the woods, we plan to fire at will.  [nonimperative]

    All cruisers, fire at will! Burn their mongrel hides!

    2007 September 25, Bungie, Halo 3, spoken by Rtas 'Vadum (Robert Davi), Microsoft Game Studios, Xbox 360, level/area: The Ark

    Antonyms: hold fire

Synonyms & antonyms

phraseFire when ready. As a command, it orders troops to use weapons at their discretion and choose their own targets, allowing the individual soldier a greater freedom of timing the shot with target movement and similar.

Opposite
hold fire

Translations

Catalan foc a discreció!
  • foc a discreció!military command
Chinese Mandarin 自由射擊！ /自由射击！
  • 自由射擊！ /自由射击！ (zìyóu shèjī!)military command
Danish ilden fri
  • ilden frimilitary command
Dutch vuur naar believen!
  • vuur naar believen!military command
Finnish tuli vapaa!
  • tuli vapaa!military command
French feu à volonté !
  • feu à volonté !military command
German Feuer frei!
  • Feuer frei!military command
Greek πυρ κατά βούληση!
  • πυρ κατά βούληση! (pyr katá voúlisi!)military command
Italian fuoco a volontà!
  • fuoco a volontà!military command
Japanese 発砲許可
  • 発砲許可military command
Persian آتش به اختیار!
  • آتش به اختیار! (âtaš be extiyâr!)military command
Polish strzelajcie bez rozkazu
  • strzelajcie bez rozkazumilitary command
Portuguese fogo à vontade!
  • fogo à vontade!military command
Romanian foc de voie!
  • foc de voie!military command
Russian огонь по готовности!
  • огонь по готовности! (ogonʹ po gotovnosti!)military command
Spanish ¡fuego a discreción!
  • ¡fuego a discreción!military command
Swedish efterhand eld!
  • efterhand eld!military command
Cite this entry
APA

fire at will. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fire%20at%20will

MLA

“fire at will.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fire%20at%20will. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “fire at will,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fire%20at%20will.

Source: fire at will on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.