fight off

phrasal verb

fought off; fighting off; fights off

: to defend oneself against (someone or something) by fighting or struggling : to avoid being harmed or overcome by (someone or something) by fighting or struggling

They fought off the attack/attackers.

I'm trying to fight off a cold.

Examples of fight off in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Like in the spleen, these pancreatic follicles hold onto intact pieces of pathogens (called antigens) and use them to help select the right B cells to fight off infection. —Melissa Cristina Márquez, Forbes.com, 11 July 2025

John Geer, a longtime political science professor at Vanderbilt University, speculated that Republicans, without any other strong candidates, asked Green to reconsider as he was set to fight off a challenge from former Nashville Mayor Megan Barry. —Kelly Puente, The Tennessean, 2 July 2025

Brookline almost broke to start the third set, but Dai and Wade fought off the challenge, and took charge from there for a 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-1 victory. —Matt Goisman, Boston Herald, 6 June 2025

Bear repellent can be up to three times more potent than the pepper spray often used to fight off muggers. —Rocco Parascandola, New York Daily News, 30 June 2025

Rhymes for fight off

• ashraf
• checkoff
• cutoff
• falloff
• handoff
• kickoff
• layoff
• liftoff
• markoff
• markov
• payoff
• playoff