hang fire

The phrase "hang fire" originates from firearms, where it describes a delay in firing. It is now commonly used to signify waiting or delaying action.

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Definition

B2General

(idiomatic)To delay or postpone making a decision or taking action.

Example

The committee decided to hang fire on the new policy until more data was available.
Let's hang fire on booking the tickets until we get confirmation of the dates.

C1Firearms

(technical)When a firearm does not discharge immediately after the trigger is pulled.

Example

The rifle hung fire, causing the soldier to wait anxiously for the shot to go off.
Due to a hang fire, the shooter had to handle the weapon with extra caution.

Similar

Terms that have similar or relatively close meanings to "hang fire":

hold fire hold one's fire take fire return fire dry fire back fire false fire walking fire open fire fire out fire off cold fire hold off under fire fire and forget static fire slow burn draw fire bin fire line of fire catch fire cease fire