From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishbackfireback‧fire /ˌbækˈfaɪə $ ˈbækfaɪr/ ●○○ verb [intransitive] 1 OPPOSITE/REVERSEif a plan or action backfires, it has the opposite effect to the one you intended The company’s new policy backfired when a number of employees threatened to quit.► see thesaurus at fail2 TTCCif a car backfires, it makes a sudden loud noise because the engine is not working correctly→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
backfire• A risk without a clear purpose can backfire.• Sien confided in him for once, and the scheme to start another quarrel backfired.• Smearing a good woman for partisan, political advantage can be a deadly game that can easily backfire.• This was a clever attempt to appease the people, but it backfired.• His plan to get attention backfired, and instead of being promoted he lost his job.• Ellen was still arguing with me as Thessy and I climbed in and backfired away, but I was no longer listening.• It has backfired because those worst hit by the pandemic, black people, are paying the price.• A final experiment by the police at labour organization backfired disastrously.• Trying to make your partner jealous by flirting with other people can easily backfire on you. 