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Definition of Hold off
1. Verb. Resist and fight to a standoff. "Dallas had enough of a lead to hold the Broncos off"
2. Verb. Wait before acting. "They hold off to move "; "The scientists held off announcing their results until they repeated the experiment"
Generic synonyms: Act, Move
Specialized synonyms: Hold Out, Delay
Derivative terms: Wait, Waiter
Definition of Hold off
1. Verb. (idiomatic transitive) To delay someone or something temporarily; to keep at bay. ¹
2. Verb. (idiomatic transitive) To delay commencing (an action until some specified time or event has passed). ¹
3. Verb. (idiomatic intransitive) To delay commencing an action (until some specified time or event has passed). ¹
¹ Source: wiktionary.com
Lexicographical Neighbors of Hold Off
Literary usage of Hold off
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable: Giving the Derivation, Source, Or Origin of by Ebenezer Cobham Brewer (1898)
"hold off! Keep at л distance. In Hold On. Cling fast ; to persist. The idea is
clinging firmly to ..."
2. A Critical Pronouncing Dictionary, and Expositor of the English Language: To by John Walker (1806)
"S. A one's self, to continue in luck; to hold off, plant. to keep at a distance ;
without closing with of liquids containing sixty-three gallons ..."
3. The Anatomy of Melancholy by Robert Burton, Arthur Richard Shilleto (1896)
"... and many Lovers confess, when they came in their Mistress' presence, they
could not hold off their eyes, ..."
4. Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine (1822)
"hold off,I say! hold off! hold off ! Keep the ]>cace, in the King's паше.
Hold oft', you there ! ..."
5. A critical pronouncing dictionary and expositor of the English language by John Walker (1797)
"O carry on, to continue j to hold forth, И «dibit ; to hold in, to govern by the
bridle, 'o rtii/ain in general ; to hold off, to keep at ..."