covering fire


noun
  1. military firing intended to protect an individual or formation making a movement by forcing the enemy to take cover

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

How to use covering fire in a sentence

  • He was right, of course, and their chances of retirement were likely to be improved by the heavier covering fire.

    Grapes of wrath | Boyd Cable
  • Captain Pike's squadron manned our outpost, and brought covering fire to bear on the enemy's right.

  • They kept up an excellent covering fire, with the result that a good many of our own men were shot.

  • They kept on for the bank, and their own men behind them opened a covering fire over their heads.

    The Scouts of the Valley | Joseph A. Altsheler
  • covering fire, he shouted, at four hundred—slam it in, and disappeared.

    Grapes of wrath | Boyd Cable