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

Poly took an early lead and fought off a late rally from the Doves before pulling away and securing its fourth consecutive Baltimore City girls basketball championship with a 51-35 win against Western at Dunbar High School. —Nicky Wolcott, Baltimore Sun, 25 Feb. 2026

To fight off hard-to-kill weeds, many farmers now layer in additional herbicides — such as dicamba and 2,4-D — that were far less common two decades ago. —Michal Ruprecht, CNN Money, 24 Feb. 2026

Her husband was killed in front of her trying to fight off burglars. —Anderson Cooper, CBS News, 23 Feb. 2026

Oseguera Cervantes was killed during an attempt to capture him, as his followers attempted to fight off Mexican troops. —María Verza, Fortune, 23 Feb. 2026

Rhymes for fight off

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