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

Examples of hold off in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Any light shower chance should hold off until after dark. Ian Livingston, Washington Post, 23 Mar. 2024 Dickinson was one of many heroes on a night KU held off a Samford team that sliced a 22-point deficit to one late. Gary Bedore, Kansas City Star, 22 Mar. 2024 Nvidia’s new Blackwell chip will likely hold off any threats to its business from some customers developing chips of their own — including Amazon, which has worked on two chips called Inferentia and Tranium, and Google, which has been working on its Tensor Processing Units. Britney Nguyen, Quartz, 19 Mar. 2024 And Serra needed all of it and more to hold off visiting Sacred Heart Cathedral in a WCAL opener. Darren Sabedra, The Mercury News, 13 Mar. 2024 But discounts may have an unintended effect on consumers, who are now holding off on purchases in hope of getting a further discount, according to the China Passenger Car Association. Lionel Lim, Fortune Asia, 7 Mar. 2024 But as the platoon prepares for a frontline deployment at a time Ukraine is desperately trying to hold off Russian advances, things like gender and age no longer matter that much, Rubanyak said. Svitlana Vlasova, CNN, 9 Mar. 2024 The Sun Devils were able to hold off a valiant comeback effort from the Mustangs. Matt Schubert, The Denver Post, 8 Mar. 2024 Messi held off Cerrillo and slipped the ball to the left side of the penalty box, from where Alba passed the ball through three defenders to an oncoming Messi. Dylan Hernández, Los Angeles Times, 26 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hold off.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of hold off was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near hold off

Cite this Entry

“Hold off.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hold%20off. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

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
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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