bide one's time

Her tactics even earned their own verb: “Merkeln,” meaning to dither or bide one’s time.

Her approach even earned its own verb: “Merkeln,” meaning to dither or bide one’s time.

Vladimir: One can bide one’s time.

For years, after its emergence from hard-line Marxism in the late 1980s, China stuck to reformist leader Deng Xiaoping’s dictum to “keep a low profile and bide one’s time, while also getting things done.”

To stand long before closed doors of opportunity and keep serene; to see work waiting, see others working, and in patience and self-control to bide one's time,—that is more than to do any work; it is to be a man.