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

More brands are rushing software to market to fight off competitors while trying to meet customer and market demands. —Rob Mason, Forbes, 23 Oct. 2024

The girl's mother told police that the suspect had installed a washer and dryer in the home a week prior Comments An 8-year-old girl in Colorado is safe after fighting off an assailant in her bedroom and a suspect in the incident has been charged, according to police. —Kimberlee Speakman, People.com, 23 Oct. 2024

As such, any deviations from your baseline patterns could suggest that your body is dealing with stress—and, as Mishra explained, fighting off an infection could be a reason why. —Alyssa Hui, Health, 21 Oct. 2024

In a trailer shared exclusively with Variety, Hunyadi (Kádár L. Gellért) delivers a rousing speech to the army he’s recruited to fight off the Ottoman threat, with his warrior wife Elizabeth Szilagyi (Vivien Rujder) fighting by his side. —Christopher Vourlias, Variety, 16 Oct. 2024