pull out of the fire

Verb

pull out of the fire (third-person singular simple present pulls out of the fire, present participle pulling out of the fire, simple past and past participle pulled out of the fire)

1. (idiomatic, transitive) To save from impending failure, destruction, or defeat.
   • But there was another, keener reason why Pitcher Alexander wanted to pull this game out of the fire, which he proceeded to do by holding Philadelphia scoreless for four innings while his St. Louis clubmates made three more runs.1929 August 19, “Sport: Alexander the Great”, in Time
   • "He is the writer of fresh possibilities, . . . of the clarion call to halt the current madness and pull the world out of the fire," wrote Joseph Epstein, the social critic.1990 January 28, “Lewis Mumford, a Visionary Social Critic, Dies at 94”, in New York Times, retrieved 23 Oct 2011

   Synonyms:

   redeem, rescue, save