ENGLISH
REFERENCE

hit out at

phr. v..
C1 Advanced Oxford British English

phr. v.. to strongly criticize someone or something in public.

phr. v.. to deliver a sharp, often sudden verbal or written attack against a person, policy, or organization; frequently used in journalistic contexts to describe political or social rebuttals.


SIMPLE

The mayor hit out at the new tax plans today.

CONTEXTUAL

In a recent interview, the actress hit out at the tabloid press for invading her privacy.

COMPLEX

The opposition leader hit out at the government's failure to address the housing crisis, calling the current strategy both short-sighted and economically reckless.

Particles
out at
Separability
inseparable
Pattern
hit + out + at + object
Usage

usually followed by a person, a group, or a specific policy as the object.

Teaching tip

this is a 'newspaper' verb; encourage students to look for it in headlines where space is limited and strong verbs are preferred over 'criticize'.

Pitfall

He hit out the manager.He hit out at the manager.the preposition 'at' is essential to direct the criticism toward the target.

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