defer to

verb

deferred to; deferring to; defers to

1

: to allow (someone else) to decide or choose something

You have more experience with this, so I'm going to defer to you.

deferring to the experts

2

defer to (something) : to agree to follow (someone else's decision, a tradition, etc.)

The court defers to precedent in cases like these.

He deferred to his parents' wishes.

Examples of defer to in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Democrats who spoke with The Star, including two who were outside Union Station during the 2024 shooting, said they were disappointed by the charging decision but deferred to Johnson’s expertise. —Kacen Bayless, Kansas City Star, 7 May 2026

The Orellana-Peralta family filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court contending that the officer, William Jones, should have slowed down and deferred to other officers at the scene who had already determined that the suspect wasn’t armed with a gun, as was first believed. —Los Angeles Times, 7 May 2026

Term limits might help by slightly reducing the motivation to continually fundraise and defer to party leaders. —Lucas Robinson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 May 2026

Trae is signed on to defer to you. —Allie Garfinkle, Fortune, 6 May 2026

Rhymes for defer to

• amadou
• avenue
• ballyhoo
• baraboo
• barbecue
• barbeque
• bugaboo
• cabildo
• caribou
• cockatoo
• detinue
• devalue