hanging fire

phrase

present participle of hang fire
as in delaying
to move or act slowly He asked his team to hang fire until he was ready.

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for hanging fire
  1. marking time
  2. falling behind
Phrase
  • All the same, Adelaide believed in the importance of marking time.
    — Yiyun Li, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2026
  • The moon represents creation and destruction, rebirth, eternity, the feminine, time, marking time, mystery, the night, and secrets.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 18 Aug. 2026
Definition of marking time
Phrase
  • That costly tendency contributed to the Commanders falling behind 10-0 in the first quarter against the Eagles.
    — Tashan Reed, Washington Post, 2 Nov. 2026
  • The Irish scored 28 unanswered points after falling behind 13-7 with 1 minute, 52 seconds left in the first half.
    — Kyle Hightower, Chicago Tribune, 31 Oct. 2026
Definition of falling behind
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

hanging back
hanging fire
hanging in
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Hanging fire.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hanging%20fire. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of lissome

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

31 Useful Rhetorical Devices

More Commonly Misspelled Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Longest Long Words List

The Words of the Week - Nov. 13

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
speech-bubble-untangle
Simplify The Convoluted Expression Quiz A quiz that’s as “uncomplicated as a round de...
See All