Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

backfire

 verb
     
Related topics: Colours and Sounds, Motor Vehicles
back‧fire [intransitive]
1 if 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.
2TTCC if a car backfires, it makes a sudden loud noise because the engine is not working correctly
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.
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