lie in wait

Idioms  

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.

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Example Sentences

Tough tests lie in wait, but that show of support did not go unnoticed.

From BBC

Who lies in wait in the quarter-finals when England fly back to the United States and into Miami?

From BBC

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.

From BBC

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.

From The Wall Street Journal

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.

From BBC

Related Words

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