Wiktionary
vb. (context informal English) To wait; to falter; to avoid proceeding through reluctance.
WordNet
v. to lag or linger behind; "But in so many other areas we still are dragging" [syn: drag, trail, get behind, drop behind]
Usage examples of "hang back".
I was to hang back in the pack for much of the race and look for his signal before making any kind of move.
Surely he didn't mean I was supposed to hang back and play the role of domestique to Nate?
Rush is probably far enough ahead not to notice, but hang back, just in case.
Rush is probably far enough ahead not to notice, but hang back just in case.
From this one poor hunt, then, the best lance out of all Nantucket, surely he will not hang back, when every foremast-hand has clutched a whetstone?
From this one poor hunt, then, the best lance out of all Nantucket, surely he will not hang back, when every foremost hand has clutched a whetstone?
He had to inspire with his own confidence a lot of people who had hidden and absurd reasons to hang back.
And shall I hang back, when Tellson's knows this and says this—.
I had never learned how to hang back from what it was up to me to do.
He grabs my hand and pulls me towards the bedroom, but I laugh and hang back, stopping him in the doorway where I press him against the frame, peal down his tights and go down on him there.
Nobody wanted to hang back when it came to showing how much they thought of Mister Watson, they wouldn't hear a hard word said against him.
I hang back in the shadows, pressed against the wall with a bow in each hand, and watch the nine guards across the Pit.
He let his head hang back, on the edge of the tub, his eyes closed.