Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
⏳ To delay 🛡️ To resist
to hold off

to hold off

55 4.0
To stop an opponent from moving forward by keeping your position
  • phrasal verb
  • /hoʊld ɔf/
translation icon : contener
  • Despite the fierce battle, the defenders managed to hold off the attackers for several hours.
  • hold off the enemy
  • hold off attacks
  • hold off an assault

Examples

Synonyms

to hold back
vsto hold off
187 3.2

Stop someone or something from moving forward

stays in place to resist and stop an opponent's advance until the end
to hold out
vsto hold off
139 3.7

To refuse to give up until you get what you want

stays in place until the opponent is prevented or defeated
to hang on
vsto hold off
  • Informal
111 3.4

To wait a short time or keep going through a hard time

stays in place and prevents opponents from succeeding throughout the struggle
to fight off
vsto hold off
51 3.7

To keep away an attack, illness, or strong unwanted feeling

keeps position and prevents enemy success over the whole fight
to fend off
vsto hold off
34 3.9

Keep unwanted people or things away so they do not harm you

stays in place to prevent an opponent advancing until the end
to stave off
vsto hold off
30 6.4

To stop something bad from happening for a while

stays firm to prevent an opponent from succeeding completely rather than only delay
to head off
vsto hold off
23 4.8

Stop something from happening by acting early

keeps position and resists opponent advancing during confrontation
to hold the line
vsto hold off
8 5.4

To refuse to change a decision or rule under pressure

stays in place to stop opponents advancing until the end
to beat off
vsto hold off
  • Informal
1 8.1

Make animals or people who attack you go away

remains in place to stop opponents gaining ground until finished

Antonyms

to allow
∞ 1.0

To let something happen or let someone do something

to yield
81 4.3

To stop resisting under pressure or force

How Resistant

to defeat
932 2.1
to hold off
55 4.0
to drive back
19 4.1
to repel
21 4.2
to fend off
34 3.9

Surface Forms

hold off infinitive
holding off present participle
holds off third person singular
held off past
held off past participle

Morphology

hold + off

The meaning 'to resist and prevent an opponent from succeeding or advancing' is directly derivable from combining 'hold' (to restrain or keep) with 'off' (away, at a distance), yielding the sense 'keep at bay' or 'repel'. This follows a common English phrasal-verb composition that is cross-linguistically transparent, so an average B1 learner who knows both constituents would likely infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

The phrasal verb hold off comes from the image of keeping attackers at a distance: hold means 'keep' and off means 'away'. When people keep enemies back like that, they 'hold off' the attack, so the phrase means 'to resist' or 'to stop someone from advancing'.