keep one's powder dryとは 意味・読み方・使い方

語源

From the maxim "Trust in God and keep your powder dry", attributed to Oliver Cromwell; in the days of muskets, soldiers needed to keep their bags of gunpowder dry so they could load their guns at short notice.

動詞

keep one's powder dry (三人称単数 現在形 keeps one's powder dry, 現在分詞 keeping one's powder dry, 過去形および過去分詞形 kept one's powder dry)

1. To hold back on action until a future time; to save one's resources in case of emergency.
   • 1904, John Morley, Hansard:

     ...events now happening, which, beyond almost any set of circumstances which have arisen in our recent history, impose the necessity on Great Britain, at all events, of keeping her powder dry, and of keeping her resources in steadfast charge.

   • 2014, Noah Feldman, "Alito's Day in Court", BloombergView:

     He’d for the most part refrained from any dramatic concurrences or dissents -- as though keeping his powder dry for Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, the biggest religious-liberty decision in years.