sit on one's hands

Idioms and Phrases

Take no action; also, fail to applaud. For example, Instead of making a new will, George is sitting on his hands , or The matinee audience was apathetic, sitting on their hands for the whole performance . Both usages of this metaphor for passivity date from the first half of the 1900s.

Related Words

• cease
• forgo
• pass up
• quit
• refrain
• renounce
• shun
• withhold