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 of hold off

• 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

Despite a solid effort and some timely plays from quarterback Kalieb Osborne, the Falcons played keepaway for more than 26 minutes in the second half to hold off the comeback and win, 35-26. — Joe Arruda, Hartford Courant, 31 Oct. 2026

Barron won a puck battle along the right boards, charged toward the net, held off Kulikov and beat Schmid just inside the far post for his first goal of the season. — Miami Herald, 30 Oct. 2026

The county was financially sound enough during the pandemic to hold off on emergency spending and gather community feedback on how to spend its $1 billion share of federal relief money. — A.d. Quig, Chicago Tribune, 29 Oct. 2026

Allisha Gray scored 23 points and Rhyne Howard had 21 as the hot-shooting Dream held off Golden State’s late rally to take an 80-69 victory over the Valkyries in Game 6 on Thursday and pull even in the WNBA Finals. — Charles Odum, Los Angeles Times, 29 Oct. 2026

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