in the cross hairs

in the cross hairs

Meaning

• in a position where one might receive severe criticism
• in a state where people are eager to criticize
• a target to get attacked

Example Sentences

1. The man was in the cross hairs from the very beginning of the interrogation.
2. I was in the cross hairs when I visited my sister while she was having a fight with her husband.
3. The CEO is usually the one in the cross hairs in such a case.
4. The film is in the cross hairs because of its use of historical events even though the director has made it clear that it has been made based on a poem and is not supposed to be historically accurate.
5. My mother is in the cross hairs when my granny visits us.

Origin

The phrase has the incorrect use of the word “hair”, it is already plural so from a language perspective did not need the additional “s” in it. But from an idioms perspective it refers to firing, which is open from both sides, hence the word has been forcefully made a plural. After the American wars, people wanted to retain normalcy and refrained from using the word fire. This has been speculated to have been brought about the phrase's origin.