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

In testing on human cells in the laboratory, compounds successfully fought off RSV, herpes and Zika infections–meaning that they could potentially be used to fight off multiple viruses the way antibiotics can be used to fight multiple bacteria. —Alex Knapp, Forbes.com, 18 July 2025

After the man gets the truck door open, the woman continues to scream for help and struggles to fight off the man, eventually managing to break free. —Nicole Acosta, People.com, 17 July 2025

Over the weekend, Warner Bros.’ Superman fought off the box-office kryptonite of declining theatrical attendance and creeping superhero fatigue to soar to $125 million in North American ticket sales. —Chris Lee, Vulture, 14 July 2025

Alcaraz fighting off three straight match points in the fourth set. —Mike Lupica, New York Daily News, 12 July 2025

Rhymes for fight off

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