firing line

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firing line (plural firing lines)

1. (military) The line from which soldiers fire their weapons at a target; especially the front line of troops in a battle.
2. A row of shooters.
3. (figurative) Line of fire, a situation in which someone or something is targeted.
   • 2023 March 8, Howatd Johnston, “Was Marples the real railway wrecker?”, in RAIL, number 978, page 50:

     Directly in their firing line was Sir Brian Robertson, the retired Commander-in-Chief of the Middle East Land Forces in the Second World War, who had been appointed chairman of the British Transport Commission (BTC) in 1953.

4. (idiomatic) The vanguard of an activity.

• firing squad