holding off

verb

present participle of hold off
1
as in turning back

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2
as in putting off

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Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for holding off
  1. turning back
  2. putting off
  3. turning away
  4. breaking off
  5. withstanding
  6. shelving
  7. resisting
  8. postponing
Verb
  • However, investors on Tuesday are turning back to semiconductors and power, electrical equipment, and liquid cooling providers like Eaton , which posted strong quarterly results and raised its full-year outlook.
    — Jeff Marks, CNBC, 3 Nov. 2026
  • Tide turns back to franchises Then the tide started turning back toward familiar waters.
    — Andrew McGowan, Fortune, 4 Oct. 2026
Definition of turning back
Verb
  • All of this means Owens has had to take shifts in the kitchen, putting off her front-of-house duties and paperwork to her evenings and days off.
    — Ayesha Rascoe, NPR, 1 Nov. 2026
  • According to Singhal, common signs include procrastination, impatience, feeling overwhelmed, and putting off decisions altogether.
    — Kriti Kumar, Vogue, 24 Oct. 2026
Definition of putting off
Verb
  • In July 2026, accounts from prospective commercial customers and satellite operators revealed that SpaceX had begun turning away Falcon 9 customers to focus its resources on the more capable Starship rocket.
    — Mojtaba Akhavan-Tafti, The Conversation, 28 Oct. 2026
  • The party’s pro-Israel hawks say that turning away from Israel is out of step with the electorate.
    — Shelby Talcott, semafor.com, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of turning away
Verb
  • The Rams came out strong to start the second half, Corum breaking off a 23-yard touchdown run for a 17-9 lead.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 2 Nov. 2026
  • Walker turned the corner around a defender near the sideline, breaking off a 76-yard run to get Kansas City near the Las Vegas goal line.
    — Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 4 Oct. 2026
Definition of breaking off
Verb
  • Nuclear facilities can require specialized molds capable of producing complex geometries with tight dimensional tolerances while withstanding substantial pressure from the concrete.
    — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 15 Oct. 2026
  • The founders of Plank Hardware create hardware made to offset a kitchen’s harsh fixtures, while still withstanding the wear and tear of daily use.
    — Lori Keong, Architectural Digest, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of withstanding
Verb
  • The rate of development of new headsets has slowed, with many companies (including Apple) scaling back or shelving their efforts.
    — Tim Stevens, ArsTechnica, 19 Oct. 2026
  • Moreover, the wall-to-wall negative press that Zaslav generated for shelving a finished movie (which was supposedly well received in test screenings) wasn’t worth the headache, according to studio sources.
    — Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 4 Oct. 2026
Definition of shelving
Verb
  • Burgess has been arrested seven times in the last 10 years, with charges including criminal possession of a weapon, resisting arrest, criminal sale of marijuana, and gang assault.
    — Colin Mixson, New York Daily News, 3 Nov. 2026
  • That same day, another federal district judge in a separate case in California barred DOJ from threatening election workers with criminal prosecution for refusing to stop processing ballots or resisting other demands.
    — Dan Mangan,Kevin Breuninger, CNBC, 2 Nov. 2026
Definition of resisting
Verb
  • For months, Riyadh maintained a veneer of business as usual despite the war, but this has become harder to sustain with the city postponing events, from tennis tournaments to conferences, and now doing a U-turn on schools.
    — Manal Albarakati, semafor.com, 4 Nov. 2026
  • The power at Westlake's football stadium went out early in the second quarter of Friday's District 25-6A high school game between Westlake and Cedar Ridge, postponing the contest until noon Saturday.
    — Colby Gordon, Austin American Statesman, 30 Oct. 2026
Definition of postponing
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

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

“Holding off.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/holding%20off. Accessed 8 Nov. 2026.

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