hang back

be reluctant to proceed, hesitate; drag or fall behind others who are proceeding

Verb
1. to lag or linger behind; "But in so many other areas we still are dragging"
(synonym) drag, trail, get behind, drop behind
(hypernym) lag, dawdle, fall back, fall behind

stay some distance behind or away, hesitate or be unwilling to do something He lacks self-confidence and always hangs back when his boss asks for volunteers.

Synonyms and related words:
avoid, back down, balance, be dilatory, blench, blink, boggle, cringe, dawdle, debate, deliberate, demur, dodge, drag, draw back, duck, evade, fade, fall back, fall behind, falter, fear, fight shy of, filibuster, flinch, gain time, get behind, hang, hang fire, hang off, have qualms, hem and haw, hesitate, hold off, hover, hum and haw, jib, lag, linger, linger behind, loiter, make bones about, make time, pause, play for time, ponder, procrastinate, pull back, quail, recoil, reel back, retreat, scruple, sheer off, shilly-shally, shrink, shrink back, shy, shy at, sidestep, stall, stall for time, stall off, start aside, start back, stick at, stickle, stooge around, stop to consider, straddle the fence, straggle, strain, strain at, swerve, talk against time, temporize, think twice about, trail, trail behind, turn aside, waver, weasel, weasel out, wince, withdraw, yield
  

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