hang fire meaning: definition, quotations

hang fire

verb

Of a firearm To fail to fire immediately when the trigger is pulled.

[…] a number of Portuguese soldiers entered, one of whom, taking me for a Frenchman, for I had the French soldier's jacket on, my own being wet, snapped his piece at me, which luckily hung fire.1841, Edward Costello, The adventures of a soldier:

Figuratively To wait or hold back.

We were told to hang fire on the decision until management came back with a proposal.
“I’m just goin’ ter settle this little ——, that’s all,” said Dawes desperately. “What do you mean?” snapped Thomas Jordan. “What I say,” said Dawes, but he hung fire.1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “chapter 13”, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC:

1 more example

Kevin hung fire where he was, staring at Chaney's body with dilated eyes and a slowly greening complexion.1993, Dana Stabenow, A Fatal Thaw, →ISBN, page 132:

noun

Engineering, Firearms, Government, Military, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Politics, Tools, War, Weaponry The situation when a gun does not immediately fire when the trigger is pulled, but may fire shortly after.