fight off

phrasal verb

fought off; fighting off; fights off

: to defend oneself against (someone or something) by fighting or struggling : to avoid being harmed or overcome by (someone or something) by fighting or struggling

They fought off the attack/attackers.

I'm trying to fight off a cold.

Examples of fight off in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Regardless, shoppers across the country will fight off the post-Thanksgiving food coma to score major markdowns on everything from flat-screen TVs to kitchen appliances. —Jalen Williams, Freep.com, 21 Nov. 2025

Wood fought off a hook by Winnipeg’s Dylan Demelo to skate past him and grab a loose puck for a clean look at Jets goaltender Eric Comrie. —Aaron Portzline, New York Times, 19 Nov. 2025

After Wolf whiffed on a clearing attempt, Bedard touched a backhand between the goaltender's legs while fighting off Calgary defenseman Yan Kuznetsov. —CBS News, 19 Nov. 2025

In rare cases, the disease may lead to fatal or life-threatening issues such as kidney damage, or weaken the immune system so the body can’t fight off infections. —Aria Bendix, NBC news, 13 Nov. 2025

Rhymes for fight off

• ashraf
• checkoff
• cutoff
• falloff
• handoff
• kickoff
• layoff
• liftoff
• markoff
• markov
• payoff
• playoff