play a waiting game

play a waiting game idiom
Delay an action or decision so as to force an opponent to move or to gain additional information. For example, The lawyer advised her to play a waiting game and see if her husband would come up with more alimony. [Late 1800s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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