defer to

phrasal verb

deferred to; deferring to; defers to

: 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

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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Key Facts Trump is permitted to vote in Florida because he was convicted on felony charges in New York, and Florida law defers to the law in the state of conviction to determine whether the person is allowed to vote. —

Conor Murray, Forbes, 5 Nov. 2024 Under Florida law where Trump resides, if a voter has an out-of-state conviction, Florida will defer to that state’s laws for how a felon can regain his or her voting rights. —

Denise Petski, Deadline, 5 Nov. 2024 When in doubt, defer to the National Fire Prevention Association and your local fire safety codes for proper fire extinguisher storage. —

Kamron Sanders, Better Homes & Gardens, 5 Nov. 2024 The now-former spokesperson defers to ICE, which would not comment on a detailed summary of this reporting. —

Penn Bullock, Rolling Stone, 25 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for defer to