hang fire

noun

Meaning

The situation when a gun does not immediately fire when the trigger is pulled, but may fire shortly after.
(of a firearm) To fail to fire immediately when the trigger is pulled.
To wait or hold back.

Etymology / origin

No prose etymology has been added yet.

No ancestor words have been linked yet.

Related words

fire off(English)unfire(English)squeeze off(English)hold fire(English)loose off(English)fizzle(English)fall back(English)strip(English)

Descendant words

No descendant words have been linked yet.

Sources

DictionaryAPI.dev English dictionary data

hang fire — meaning and etymology | WikiWord