Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes

¹ Cultural  

1. Don't react to a situation too early. This saying comes from an order allegedly given by American officer William Prescott at the Battle of Bunker Hill in the American Revolutionary War.

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Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes ² Cultural  

1. A famous command attributed to William Prescott, an American officer, at the Battle of Bunker Hill in the Revolutionary War. Prescott may have said “color” rather than “whites.”

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Prescott's command has become a proverb, meaning “Don't act before you have some chance of success.”