Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes cultural definition

A famous command attributed to William Prescott, an American officer, at the Battle of Bunker Hill in the Revolutionary War. Prescott may have said “color” rather than “whites.”

• Prescott's command has become a proverb, meaning “Don't act before you have some chance of success.”

Don't react to a situation too early. This saying comes from an order allegedly given by American officer William Prescott at the Battle of Bunker Hill in the American Revolutionary War.