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
  • The 42-year-old turned back the clock Sunday, with 10 strikeouts in seven scoreless innings against the Seattle Mariners.
    — Mitch Bannon, New York Times, 31 Aug. 2026
  • Tropical Storm Dolly may have turned back into just a tropical wave on Friday, but the National Hurricane Center is now giving it as well as a new system in the Gulf a chance to develop.
    — Richard Tribou, The Orlando Sentinel, 29 Aug. 2026
Definition of turned back
Verb
  • Poppe said the company was putting off $2 billion in work — not for wildfire mitigation or safety, but for housing developments, renewable energy projects and other efforts.
    — Stephen Hobbs, Sacbee.com, 3 Sep. 2026
  • Diana and Lana’s trip was put off due to the death of Marks’s father in South Africa at the end of July.
    — Allie Merriam, Vanity Fair, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of put off
Verb
  • Sprague told the jury that Clancy was never turned away from mental health care, but that in fact Clancy refused help.
    — Sumiko Corley, NBC news, 27 Aug. 2026
  • This summer, Whatley’s campaign barred journalists from mainstream and left-leaning outlets from events, while Cooper’s campaign turned away staffers from two conservative outlets, but local coverage focused more heavily on Whatley.
    — David A. Graham, The Atlantic, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of turned away
Verb
  • This is the moment a piece of a glacier broke off on the Chinese side of the border.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 30 Aug. 2026
  • The disaster began Wednesday when a massive chunk of ice and rock dozens of times larger than the Empire State Building broke off a mountaintop and triggered the catastrophic flooding, geologists said.
    — Freddie Clayton, NBC news, 29 Aug. 2026
Definition of broke off
Verb
  • After years staying in her home state during the pandemic, Hagerman has resisted the urge to upsize her house to keep rent costs down.
    — Alex Harring, CNBC, 5 Sep. 2026
  • Chieftain Rajah Tupas resisted the Spanish for nearly a month before Legazpi bombarded local villages, forcing Tupas into a settlement.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 5 Sep. 2026
Definition of resisted
Verb
  • When Ohtani sought a $700 million package that deferred 98 percent of the salary, Moreno declined to engage.
    — Andy McCullough, New York Times, 4 Sep. 2026
  • Suzy Batlle, who owns an ice cream shop on Southwest Eighth Street, said the plan feels rushed and asked that the planning board vote be deferred.
    — Catherine Odom, Miami Herald, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of deferred
Verb
  • With a recent Gallup poll showing that 75% of Democrats are opposed to data centers being built near them, presidential hopefuls will be jockeying to position themselves as the one who was against data centers earliest and most often.
    — Patrick McNamara, Chicago Tribune, 6 Sep. 2026
  • Pancho opposed the fortification of the town, although most of his siblings supported it.
    — Kate Linthicum, Los Angeles Times, 6 Sep. 2026
Definition of opposed
Verb
  • Researchers can use this moment to finally build the ethical infrastructure around the cultivation of insider sources and source compensation that the field has postponed for too long.
    — Arie Perliger, The Conversation, 31 Aug. 2026
  • Saturday’s game in Liberty was postponed after a Cardinals player suffered a medical emergency on the sideline and died.
    — The Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 30 Aug. 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 8 Sep. 2026.

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