hold one's fire
IdiomsExample Sentences
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The drillmaster’s wisdom quoth that the mark of the true soldier is not the ability to fire, but the courage to hold one’s fire; that the expertise is not in the hot moment of engagement, but in its delay.
From Literature
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But it was hard to hold one's fire when the thud of those charging hoofs was coming closer.
From Project Gutenberg
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.