To cause something to be replaced by something else.
buy time
To purposefully cause a delay, in order to achieve something else.
pale in comparison
To appear small or unimportant in relation to something else.
buy a dog and bark oneself
To do something that one has hired someone else to do.
see which way the cat jumps
To delay taking action based on the outcome of something else.
otherwise engaged
busy doing something else
stepping stone
Something used as a way to progress to something or somewhere else.