defer to

phrasal 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
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The Biden White House also deferred to that custom, which is why Biden never ended up nominating Meredith. Arkansas Online, 20 June 2025 For inquiries about the status of student visa holders in the U.S., the State Department defers to the Department of Homeland Security. Justin Williams, New York Times, 19 June 2025 While some Republicans have expressed concern, most have deferred to the president. Amanda Castro shane Croucher, MSNBC Newsweek, 19 June 2025 Reached for comment, an Amazon spokesperson deferred to the original memo. Anne Marie D. Lee, CBS News, 17 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for defer to

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Cite this Entry

“Defer to.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/defer%20to. Accessed 25 Jun. 2025.

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