crosshairs

in (one's) cross hairs

1. Literally, visible in one's gunsight. Once you've got the deer in your cross hairs, shoot! Once he had me in his cross hairs, I put my hands up and admitted defeat.
2. By extension, in a position in which other people are eager to criticize or attack. The CEO has been in politicians' cross hairs for his recent comments on immigration.
See also: cross, hair

in the cross hairs

In a position in which other people are eager to criticize or attack. The CEO has been in the cross hairs of politicians and businesspeople alike for his recent comments on immigration.
See also: cross, hair
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
See also:
  • in (one's) cross hairs
  • at cross purposes
  • at cross-purposes
  • cross the Great Divide
  • divide
  • cross the big pond
  • purpose
  • cross up
  • cross up someone
  • cross purpose
References in periodicals archive
Crosshair versus holdover reticles is a personal affair and depends entirely on whether the shooter wants to dial for elevation or just holdover.
Today the list of Crosshairs clientele ranges from luxury, lifestyle, fashion, government and corporate houses.
"Public Education in the Crosshairs" is an expose of a number of consequences flowing from NCLB, especially in Ohio where legislators and lawyers designed and tested a program allowing vouchers to religious schools in Cleveland--a program the U.S.
Out of the two, Rooney does the best job in describing the club, largely from its spot in the crosshairs in the long war between "high" and "low" American culture, while Farr expounds on her thesis that the club is a "triumph of cultural democracy" that allows its selected novels to "talk" to readers.
Using the keypad, players direct the crosshairs and try to take out as many enemies as possible as they appear on the screen.
The crosshairs of the scope are then aligned and true to the horizon.
So the 527s are now in the crosshairs of the reformers, and speech is newly imperiled and must be newly defended.
This Carmen snapshots a society caught in the crosshairs, with little opportunity to find safety or calm.
Corus itself was in the headlines early in 2005 for allegedly being in the crosshairs of ThyssenKrupp, the German industrial conglomerate, although denied by both sides.
Thanks to a spate of high-profile corporate scandals, C-level executives are the latest, greatest bad guy to enter the crosshairs of a voracious news media and an even more voracious class action industry.
workers into globalization's crosshairs. White-collar workers who shrugged off the suffering of their blue-collar brothers and sisters over the last two decades now have a much different perspective on all that union grousing.
If there ever was a country in the crosshairs, Syria is it.
Ewan Fernie's book takes the concept of shame out of its tangential sphere in thematic Shakespeare scholarship and places it in the crosshairs of a wide-ranging inspection of the dramaturgical and philosophical import of shame in Shakespearean tragedy.
The next challenge in the crosshairs for Ethernet is moving beyond the Enterprise network to the connections between them--in the majority of cases, over public networks.
State Department's list of nations that sponsor terrorism, and perceived refuge of Iraqi regime leaders, Syria appeared to be positioned firmly in Washington's crosshairs. The situation since has been back and forth.