wave (someone) off

phrasal verb

waved (someone) off; waving (someone) off; waves (someone) off

: to move one's hand as a way of telling someone that one does not want help

We offered to help but he waved us off.

Examples of wave (someone) off in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Concerns waved off Indeed, the study directors continued to wave off concerns. —Caitjan Gainty, Smithsonian Magazine, 12 Jan. 2024

Many wave off the drug in the early days of Covid, when symptoms tend to be mildest, bypassing the chance to limit early viral growth. —Christina Jewett, New York Times, 4 Jan. 2024

In June, a U.S. Navy warship fired a warning flare to wave off an Iranian Revolutionary Guard speedboat coming straight at it during a tense encounter in the strategic Strait of Hormuz. —CBS News, 29 Sep. 2023

Feds wave off local DA After Penley, former Travis County prosecutor Gregg Cox testified that federal authorities waved off his office from looking into several potential crimes involving Paxton. —Lauren McGaughy, Dallas News, 11 Sep. 2023

Henwick’s Liv, the more chillaxed of the pair, tends to wave off the small stuff. —Amy Nicholson, Variety, 16 Sep. 2023

Cairenes, as this city’s residents are known, who have contacted government officials to push back against the development say those in charge tend to wave off experts’ advice and dismiss the concerns of local residents. —Vivian Yee, New York Times, 26 Aug. 2023

Additional explorer features include a wave breaker bulwark in front of the bridge—the yacht is named after a notorious wave off the coast of Fiji—and an enclosed stern where the yacht’s multiple tenders, big enough to fit the owner’s surf boards, are stored. —Julia Zaltzman, Robb Report, 16 June 2023

After weeks of silence in the tropics, the National Hurricane Center is watching a tropical wave off the coast of Africa. —Joe Mario Pedersen, Orlando Sentinel, 8 Aug. 2022