friendly fire

noun

: the firing of weapons from one's own forces or those of an ally especially when resulting in the accidental death or injury of one's own personnel

Near the river bordering our camp I find the tents of the four soldiers who were supposedly hit by friendly fire.—

Janine Di Giovanni

After all, accidental attacks, though tragic, are common in war. In 1967 alone, "friendly fire" killed 5,373 Americans fighting in Vietnam.—

Michael Oren

Examples of friendly fire in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web There were 25 soldiers killed, some likely by friendly fire. —

Tom Vanden Brook, USA TODAY, 1 Aug. 2024 He was later killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan. —

Christopher Brito, CBS News, 12 July 2024 Tillman played for the Arizona Cardinals but gave up the sport to fight as a ranger in the U.S. Army in Afghanistan, where he was killed in a friendly fire incident in 2004. —

David Faris, Newsweek, 9 July 2024 The 27-year-old died in a friendly fire incident while serving in Afghanistan in 2004. —

Martha Ross, The Mercury News, 9 July 2024 See all Example Sentences for friendly fire

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'friendly fire.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.