to hang fire
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
To fail in an expected result. The allusion is to a gun or pistol which fails to go off.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “to hang fire” mean?
To fail in an expected result. The allusion is to a gun or pistol which fails to go off.
Is “to hang fire” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.