to fight off
51
3.7
- phrasal verb
- /faɪt ɔf/
:
repeler
- So you want to, if at all possible, just do things to support your body as it fights off a virus.
We were built to fight off invaders, right?
- We were built to fight off invaders, right?
- All these diets will protect you from the blood sugar spikes that cripple your immune system's ability to fight off viruses and bacteria.
- So you want to, if at all possible, just do things to support your body as it fights off a virus.
- We're also going to talk about sex as a potential way to fight off dementia and improve your overall health and your brain health.
- So the thinking, the ability to fight off infection, all these things get worse and it ends in death.
- And there are things to do in your lifestyle that can keep your immune system fully functional in order to fight off viruses.
- It's like build rockets that fight off gravity.
- Do you need bad men to be able to fight off greater evils?
- So your work environments also very important to fight off the forces of procrastination.
Examples
-
The lake's resident male was fighting off a young intruder intent on displacing him from his territory.
Academic text (2010) -
So you kind of need a high inflammatory response just to fight off infections.
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There was no ally that I could count on to help me secure people to help me fight off a bad guy.
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I'll help you fight off whatever comes out.
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Hours earlier, their ship was sunk while trying to fight off a Japanese task force.
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Labour stands for providing Ukraine with the arms it needs to fight off their invaders.
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Infants have an immature immune system and it takes a long time for them to fight off infections.
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The dog barked loudly to fight off the intruder who entered the yard.
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She took some medicine to help her fight off the cold that was making her feel sick.
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They worked together to fight off the attack and protect their home from danger.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
To try hard to oppose or overcome something difficult
∞
1.3
To protect people and things from attack or harm
188
3.3
Resist an attack or criticism by responding
122
4.1
To fight something harmful like a disease or unfair treatment
55
4.0
To stop an opponent from moving forward by keeping your position
34
4.4
To keep harmful or unpleasant things away from you
34
3.9
Keep unwanted people or things away so they do not harm you
21
4.2
Make someone or something move back and stay away, often by using force
19
4.1
Force someone or something to move away from danger
7
7.0
To make someone or something go away
3
7.9
To drive back an attack or enemy force
1
8.1
Make animals or people who attack you go away
1
7.0
To try hard to hold back a strong feeling
Push away a lot of people or fans as a joke about being too popular
Antonyms
How Successful
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to repel or resist' is directly derivable from combining 'fight' (to oppose or exert effort against) with 'off' (away), yielding the sense of pushing something away or keeping it at bay. This verb + particle composition is a regular, compositional pattern in English and is likely inferable by a B1 learner who knows both constituents.
Etymology
The phrasal verb fight off comes from the image of using fight to send something off, for example soldiers pushing attackers away or a person trying to push away sleep or a cold. So, fight off now means 'to push away or resist' an attack, illness, or an unwanted feeling.