enemy lines
Foe's defensive positions
Enemy lines are the positions held by opposing military forces, forming the boundary between friendly and hostile territory.
To go behind enemy lines is to penetrate into areas controlled by the adversary—for reconnaissance, sabotage, or rescue.
The phrase extends figuratively to any situation where you're operating in hostile or unfriendly space: She felt like she was behind enemy lines at her in-laws' house.
- defensesMeans of protection
- frontlineCombat's forward position
- infiltrationCovert entry into organization
- covert operationsSecret military or intelligence activities
- double agentsSpies betraying their employers
combat · sniper fire · dead drops · incursion · sabotage · positions · forward operating base · bridgeheads · no man's land · wire cutters · territory · flanking maneuvers · battlefield · war zone · reconnaissance · intelligence gathering · siege · prisoner of war
- espionagespy, spies, double agent, double agents, spying
- warfarebattle, combat, attack, war, armed conflict
- war zonesbattlefield, combat zone, battleground, warzone, frontline
- war pigeonswar pigeons, carrier pigeons, homing pigeons, messenger pigeons, G.I. Joe
enemy linessafe zone
Protected area from threats
home front · protected zone · rear echelon · home base · allied forces
enemy linesdefensive lines
Protective military formations
rear echelon · home base · base camp · rear guard · fallback position
line, enemy, lines, outline, lineage, underline, enemies, linear, liner