lie in wait

1. Remain hidden while preparing to attack, as in The opposition was quietly lying in wait for the incumbent to make his first big mistake. This expression originally alluded to physical attacks and is now often used figuratively. [Mid-1400s] Also see lay for.

Example Sentences

Difficult matches lie in wait for Wales, but they will fancy their chances of qualifying for a second successive World Cup, and only a third in their history.

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Tourists flock to the savannah by the hundreds of thousands, hoping to catch sight of the herds as they run a gantlet of crocodiles lying in wait in the Mara River.

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Scotland can only play one other European nation in the groups, so there is a fair chance Morocco, Colombia, Uruguay, Japan, Senegal, Iran, South Korea, Ecuador and Australia could lie in wait.

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An away game in Athens against a Greece team who can no longer catch them, and then a Hampden showdown against Denmark next month lies in wait.

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“I have always felt that they have been lying in wait, and now, as usual, I have been proven right!”

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Related Words

• await 
• delay 
• expect 
• hang 
• linger 
• remain 
• stand by 
• stay 
• stick around 
• watch