hold off (on)

as in to postpone
to assign to a later time we held off on accepting the invitation in the hopes that something better would come along

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for hold off (on)
Verb
  • His arraignment in Sacramento Superior Court has been postponed twice, since the defendant remains under a federal hold.
    Rosalio Ahumada, Sacbee.com, 7 Oct. 2025
  • Federal tax due dates are established by law, meaning they cannot be postponed just because Congress has not passed a budget, according to the IRS agency contingency plan.
    Tiffani Jackson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 6 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • The Treasury has not set a date for when the final draft will be decided, but the government shutdown may delay a final decision.
    Jessica Coacci, Fortune, 4 Oct. 2025
  • Munich Airport in Germany briefly delayed the relaunch of flight operations on Saturday morning local time due to drone sightings, after previous UAV sightings earlier halted all traffic at the airport for several hours.
    Laura Sharman, CNN Money, 4 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • After high school, Neutra deferred his college studies to spend a gap year in Israel.
    Rachel Wolf, FOXNews.com, 7 Oct. 2025
  • The White House deferred the Washington Examiner to the Department of Education, and the Washington Examiner contacted the Department of Education for comment.
    Sydney Topf, The Washington Examiner, 4 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • At 48 years old, the veteran has been used to put over the next generation of superstars.
    Andrew Ravens‎, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 Sep. 2025
  • The market is putting over 85% odds on a cut, according to the CME FedWatch tool.
    Morgan Chittum, CNBC, 29 Aug. 2025
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.

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Cite this Entry

“Hold off (on).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hold%20off%20%28on%29. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.

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