see how the land lies

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

see how the land lies (third-person singular simple present sees how the land lies, present participle seeing how the land lies, simple past saw how the land lay, past participle seen how the land lay)

1. (UK) To wait for all the information about something before taking action.

   Synonym: find out how the land lies

• lay of the land

• test the waters

• “how the land lies”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “how the land lies”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “find out see how the land lies”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.