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

The full Senate for nearly two months had held off on voting on her ambassadorship nomination, after it was recommended by the Foreign Relations Committee, because of concerns that her departure from the House would threaten Trump’s legislative agenda. —Dan Mangan, CNBC, 27 Mar. 2025

Stephan Jaeger held off Scottie Scheffler to win the event last year, but who will win it all in 2025? —Paul Du Quenoy, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Mar. 2025

Mexico is largely holding off on retaliation, but Canada quickly fired back with counter-tariffs on billions of dollars’ worth of U.S. products. —Andrew Muhammad, The Conversation, 26 Mar. 2025

Michigan State held off a talented Harvard team that many picked to get the upset, winning 64-50. —Kevin Sabet, Newsweek, 24 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

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

Rhymes for hold off

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

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