Frank J. Wilstach, comp. A Dictionary of Similes. 1916.

Hesitate

Hesitating like stag at bay.
—John Clare

Hesitating, fluttering, like the bird with young wing, weak and dubious.
—George Eliot

Hesitating like a bather about to make his plunge.
—Thomas Hardy

Hesitate, like the submissive voice of an inferior.
—Sir Walter Scott