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

• postpone
• delay
• defer
• put over

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 star winger held off a defender before bringing a long pass down neatly with her first touch, and then turning to play a pass to Zaneratto in on goal. —Daniel Sperry, Kansas City Star, 27 Sep. 2025

The Seattle Seahawks held off their NFC West rival, the Arizona Cardinals, in a 23-20 victory on the road on Thursday night. —Scott Thompson, FOXNews.com, 26 Sep. 2025

In the early 1990s, for example, the committee held off on adding Microsoft to the index because founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen still owned more than 50% of the shares. —Alex Mayyasi, NPR, 23 Sep. 2025

With the goal of holding off the Cleveland Guardians and Houston Astros, is any part of Bregman's mind on another run at free agency this winter with an opt-out in his contract? —Tim Crowley, MSNBC Newsweek, 23 Sep. 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