hold off
verbDefinition of hold off
1 : to block from an objective : delay
2 : to defer action on : postpone hold off a decision
3 : to fight to a standoff : withstand
: to defer or temporarily stop doing something
Examples of hold off in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Trade disruption threatens global growth as businesses may hold off on any significant investments or hiring until a resolution is made. — Phillip Molnar, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Can the U.S. economy withstand a trade war?," 13 July 2018 But the Mariners couldn't hold off the Athletics, losing a 2–0 lead in the eighth. — Charlotte Carroll, SI.com, "Mariners' James Paxton Strikes Out 16 For New MLB Season High," 3 May 2018 In 2011, when the weather last held off for a particularly long time, her investigators discovered more than 1,500 new sites, mostly in the clay lands of eastern England. — The Economist, "Dry weather is helping archaeologists discover ancient sites," 12 July 2018 So holding off a bit before going medieval on Heitkamp makes good practical sense, particularly at this early juncture where voters probably aren’t that focused on Senate races anyway. — Ed Kilgore, Daily Intelligencer, "North Dakota’s GOP Senate Candidate Complains That Trump Is Being Too Nice to a Democrat," 12 June 2018 Beyond the deadline on his qualifying offer, Walton may face another timing issue, with the Heat possibly to hold off on offering another two-way contract after signing undrafted Michigan forward Duncan Robinson to a two-way contract Tuesday. — Ira Winderman, Sun-Sentinel.com, "Heat's Derrick Walton Jr. facing yet another contract deadline," 11 July 2018 Trey Lyon, a 29-year-old Houstonian in the oil and gas business, held off on buying a Chevy Volt hybrid until the state rolled out the rebate on Wednesday. — Chris Tomlinson, Houston Chronicle, "Texas rolls out cash incentives for electric cars," 31 May 2018 Allmendinger used some aggressive blocking over the closing laps to hold off Chase Elliott and Erik Jones to take the final stage, a 10-lap run. — Mike Hembree, USA TODAY, "Drivers earn final four spots in Saturday's NASCAR All-Star race," 19 May 2018 Democrats, who had held off signing the petition to make clear this wasn't a purely partisan effort, are likely to begin signing as soon as today. — Chris Cillizza, CNN, "The biggest political story no one is talking about," 17 May 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'hold off.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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