hang fire
IdiomsExample Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Writing in The Guardian, he said that crises “don’t take holidays, and don’t politely hang fire – certainly not to suit the convenience of a departing PM and the whims of two potential successors.”
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 11, 2022
A movie as cryptic as “Burning” deserves to hang fire.
From The New Yorker ● Oct. 26, 2018
Why didn’t she stop after the first line, leaving it to hang fire?
From The New Yorker ● May 11, 2015
The moments that can sometimes hang fire – most notably the altercation between Ivan and Kaschey and the build up to the Infernal Dance – were full of terrific tension and drama.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 24, 2013
It seems to have that quality of mystery that belongs to all affairs of the kind when they hang fire.
From The Quality of Mercy by Howells, William Dean
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
