held off

verb

past tense of hold off
1
as in turned back

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2
as in put off

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Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for held off
  1. turned back
  2. put off
  3. turned away
  4. broke off
  5. resisted
  6. deferred
  7. opposed
  8. postponed
Verb
  • At a polling station in Rio de Janeiro, the voting machines had already been switched off minutes after polls were set to close and couldn't be turned back on.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 26 Oct. 2026
  • At a polling station in Rio de Janeiro, the voting machines had already been switched off minutes after polls were set to close and couldn’t be turned back on.
    — Eléonore Hughes, Los Angeles Times, 25 Oct. 2026
Definition of turned back
Verb
  • According to Singhal, common signs include procrastination, impatience, feeling overwhelmed, and putting off decisions altogether.
    — Kriti Kumar, Vogue, 24 Oct. 2026
  • Perez put off college to take over her parents' landscaping business and care for her family in their absence.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of put off
Verb
  • Fred VanVleet made two free throws for the final points after Thompson turned away the 7-foot-4 Wembanyama in the lane as the Rockets started their season with two victories.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 24 Oct. 2026
  • He got stuffed by double-team blocks and turned away by larger Toronto wings, who manhandled the slighter forward in his attempts to create downhill momentum.
    — Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of turned away
Verb
  • After Kao’s 2020 indictment, the University of South Carolina broke off the partnership.
    — Molly Redden, ProPublica, 20 Oct. 2026
  • The turning point came on the Chiefs’ second drive, when Kenneth Walker broke off a 33-yard touchdown run to extend Kansas City’s lead to 9-0.
    — Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 18 Oct. 2026
Definition of broke off
Verb
  • But the city resisted at the time, arguing that the federal consent decree did not require aid during dry weather events, according to the Banner.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 28 Oct. 2026
  • The court vacated the policy nationwide, impacting not only the Justice Department's efforts to get data from the states that have resisted as well as states that had already voluntarily complied.
    — Eric McDaniel, NPR, 28 Oct. 2026
Definition of resisted
Verb
  • His autopsy has been completed, though an official cause of death has been deferred pending further investigation.
    — Shania Russell, Entertainment Weekly, 18 Oct. 2026
  • Highlands has proposed repaying the state through deductions from future state funding, but the bankruptcy court deferred a decision on that proposal until the final hearing in November.
    — Chaewon Chung, Sacbee.com, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of deferred
Verb
  • The Johnson County District Attorney’s Office opposed recusal.
    — Emerson Clarridge, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 31 Oct. 2026
  • The arch is opposed by a small group of veterans and an architectural historian who sued in federal court in Washington, saying Congress must endorse the project.
    — Gary Fields, Los Angeles Times, 30 Oct. 2026
Definition of opposed
Verb
  • The game was one of many across the Southland delayed or postponed by lightning, particularly in Orange County.
    — Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 24 Oct. 2026
  • This happened despite the fact that calculations of orbital forcings, together with modeling of how carbon dioxide interferes with glacial inception, have suggested the next ice age was postponed by tens of thousands of years.
    — Jacek Krywko, ArsTechnica, 24 Oct. 2026
Definition of postponed
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

held (in)
held off
held off (on)
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Cite this Entry

“Held off.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/held%20off. Accessed 2 Nov. 2026.

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