reconnaissance by fire
noun · n
Simple meaning
A method of reconnaissance in which fire is placed on a suspected enemy position to cause the enemy to disclose his presence by moving or returning fire.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
reekahnuhsuhnsbyfyerSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ɹiˈkɑnəsənsˈbaɪˈfaɪɚ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A method of reconnaissance in which fire is placed on a suspected enemy position in order to cause the enemy to disclose his presence by moving or returning fire
n
Reconnaissance by fire (recon by fire), also known as speculative fire, is a warfare tactic used in which military forces may fire on likely enemy positions to provoke a reaction, which confirms the presence and the position of enemy forces.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A method of reconnaissance in which fire is placed on a suspected enemy position in order to cause the enemy to disclose his presence by moving or returning fire
Used this way, reconnaissance by fire is a specialist word with a faintly unfavourable edge. It turns up most in technical or specialist writing contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Slightly negative
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Critical or judgemental
- Usage feel
- Clinical and detached
Where it naturally appears
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.