hanging fire

Verb

hang fire (third-person singular simple present hangs fire, present participle hanging fire, simple past and past participle hung fire)

1. To fail to fire immediately when the trigger is pulled.
   • […] a number of Portuguese soldiers entered, one of whom, taking me for a Frenchman, for I had the French soldier's jacket on, my own being wet, snapped his piece at me, which luckily hung fire.1841, Edward Costello, The adventures of a soldier
2. (figuratively) To wait or hold back.
   • We were told to hang fire on the decision until management came back with a proposal.

See all 3 meanings of hang fire