holding fire

Verb

hold fire (third-person singular simple present holds fire, present participle holding fire, simple past and past participle held fire)

1. (intransitive) To wait for an opportunity to shoot (with a firearm) at something or someone.

   Antonyms:

   open fire, fire

   1. (imperative, intransitive) Do not fire.
      • Hold fire!
2. (intransitive) To delay taking action.
   • I have seen so much really credible evidence that the situation did not devolve the way we're being told it did. And then, another body of credible evidence that it was very different from what we're being told it is that I'm holding fire until I see the Warren Commission report on the...2025 September 23, Lawrence Wilkerson, Nima R Alkhorshid's Dialogue Works, YouTube

   Synonyms:

   hold up, hold on