English idiom

sit on one's hands

Register · Informal CEFR B2

Post

Figurative meaning

to do nothing when action is needed

Why this phrase?

Pictures someone literally sitting on their hands so they can't act; means to fail to act.

Example

“The board just sat on its hands while the company lost money.”

Dictionary details

Tags

delay

Expressions connected by reviewed component words or topic tags.

hang on a minute

used to ask someone to wait, or to express surprise or objection

sleep on it

to delay a decision until the next day

buy time

to create a delay that provides extra time to prepare or decide

drag one's feet

to do something slowly or delay because you don't want to do it

on the back burner

given low priority and left for later

red tape

excessive bureaucracy and official rules

Source methodology

Meanings, register, CEFR, and examples come from the reviewed dictionary record. Expression notes may describe a reviewed present-day word picture or a background note; they are not presented as verified etymology.

External links

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