hold off

verb

held off; holding off; holds off

transitive verb

1

: to block from an objective : delay

2

: to defer action on : postpone

hold off a decision

3

: to fight to a standoff : withstand

intransitive verb

: to defer or temporarily stop doing something

Synonyms

• defer
• delay
• hold over
• hold up
• lay over
• postpone
• put off
• put over
• remit
• shelve

Examples of hold off in a Sentence

we held off on accepting the invitation in the hopes that something better would come along

Recent Examples on the Web

This is especially important for the Ukrainian force in Kursk, which is fighting hard to hold off a much larger Russian and North Korean force. —David Axe, Forbes, 1 Dec. 2024

Packers blitz past Dolphins In Thanksgiving’s final game, a scoring barrage from the Green Bay Packers was enough to hold off the Miami Dolphins 30-17 at Lambeau Field. —Ben Morse, CNN, 29 Nov. 2024

Voters might think to hold off on feting Chu’s achievement until after the second film’s release, bestowing one best picture prize on the entire vision. —Seth Abramovitch, The Hollywood Reporter, 29 Nov. 2024

The editing was so top-level on this entire sequence, building the tension as stacks dropped and Rachel attempted to hold off her next closest competitor. —Dalton Ross, EW.com, 28 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Kids Definition

hold off

verb

1

: to keep away : withstand

held off the attack

2

: postpone, delay

decided to hold off on the decision

will hold off production for the summer