hold someone's feet to the fire

verb

To maintain personal, social, political, or legal pressure on someone in order to induce them to comply with one's desires; to hold someone accountable for their actions.

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Meanings

verbhold someone's feet to the fire (third-person singular simple present holds someone's feet to the fire, present participle holding someone's feet to the fire, simple past and past participle held someone's feet to the fire)

present singular third person holds someone's feet to the fire · participle present holding someone's feet to the fire · participle past held someone's feet to the fire · past held someone's feet to the fire

  1. idiomaticTo maintain personal, social, political, or legal pressure on someone in order to induce them to comply with one's desires; to hold someone accountable for their actions.

    We want to hold the Administration's feet to the fire to secure a decent agreement.

    1988 March 5, Neil A. Lewis, “U.S. Insists Soviet Stop Sending Arms to Afghan Regime”, in New York Times, retrieved 17 Apr 2009
    2 more examples

    In this letter the governor explained that he was being threatened with impeachment and needed all the jobs in his gift to stave off such proceedings and to "hold the feet of members of the legislature to the fire."

    1917 September 3, “Governor Sued for Large Sum”, in Evening Independent, Florida, US, retrieved 17 Apr 2009, page 3

    He kept tabs on presidents, monitored members of Congress, held bureaucrats' feet to the fire.

    2005 Dec. 19, Julia Keller, "Today's journalists don't know Jack—but ought to" (obituary for Jack N. Anderson), Chicago Tribune (retrieved 17 Apr. 2009)

Origin

From the implied threat of physical harm by burning.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

hold someone's feet to the fire. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hold%20someone's%20feet%20to%20the%20fire

MLA

“hold someone's feet to the fire.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hold%20someone's%20feet%20to%20the%20fire. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hold someone's feet to the fire,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hold%20someone's%20feet%20to%20the%20fire.

Source: hold someone's feet to the fire on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.