fight fire with fire

fight fire with fire
An injunction to counter like with like. Cf. early 14th-cent. Fr. lung feu doit estaindre lautre, one fire must put out another; 1608 SHAKESPEARE Coriolanus IV. vii. 54 One fire drives out one fire; one nail, one nail.

1846 J. F. COOPER Redskins III. i. If ‘Fire will fight fire’, ‘Indian’ ought to be a match for ‘Injin’ any day.

1869 P. T. BARNUM Struggles & Triumphs xl. I write to ask what your intentions are... Do you intend to fight fire with fire?

1980 C. SMITH Cut-out ix. ‘You think the other Palestinians have hired some heavies as well?’ ‘Why not? Fight fire with fire.’


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  • fight fire with fire — {v. phr.}, {slightly formal}, {of Biblical origin} To fight back in the same way one was attacked; make a defense similar to the attack. * /The candidate was determined to fight fire with fire in the debate./ …   Dictionary of American idioms

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