held off

verb

past tense of hold off
1
as in turned back

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2
as in put off

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Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for held off
  1. turned back
  2. put off
  3. turned away
  4. broke off
  5. resisted
  6. deferred
  7. opposed
  8. postponed
Verb
  • The 42-year-old turned back the clock Sunday, with 10 strikeouts in seven scoreless innings against the Seattle Mariners.
    — Mitch Bannon, New York Times, 31 Aug. 2026
  • Tropical Storm Dolly may have turned back into just a tropical wave on Friday, but the National Hurricane Center is now giving it as well as a new system in the Gulf a chance to develop.
    — Richard Tribou, The Orlando Sentinel, 29 Aug. 2026
Definition of turned back
Verb
  • Poppe said the company was putting off $2 billion in work — not for wildfire mitigation or safety, but for housing developments, renewable energy projects and other efforts.
    — Stephen Hobbs, Sacbee.com, 3 Sep. 2026
  • Diana and Lana’s trip was put off due to the death of Marks’s father in South Africa at the end of July.
    — Allie Merriam, Vanity Fair, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of put off
Verb
  • Sprague told the jury that Clancy was never turned away from mental health care, but that in fact Clancy refused help.
    — Sumiko Corley, NBC news, 27 Aug. 2026
  • This summer, Whatley’s campaign barred journalists from mainstream and left-leaning outlets from events, while Cooper’s campaign turned away staffers from two conservative outlets, but local coverage focused more heavily on Whatley.
    — David A. Graham, The Atlantic, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of turned away
Verb
  • This is the moment a piece of a glacier broke off on the Chinese side of the border.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 30 Aug. 2026
  • The disaster began Wednesday when a massive chunk of ice and rock dozens of times larger than the Empire State Building broke off a mountaintop and triggered the catastrophic flooding, geologists said.
    — Freddie Clayton, NBC news, 29 Aug. 2026
Definition of broke off
Verb
  • The suspect was uncooperative during the contact and physically resisted, briefly pulling the officer partially inside his vehicle, Lincoln police said in a social media post.
    — Tania Azhang, Sacbee.com, 29 Aug. 2026
  • The tribute carries particular resonance because Parton had previously resisted efforts to put her own legacy on a pedestal.
    — Jasmine Baehr, FOXNews.com, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of resisted
Verb
  • Edwin Díaz The Dodgers outbid the New York Mets for the services of closer Edwin Díaz, agreeing to a three-year, $69 million contract (with much of it deferred).
    — Dan Freedman, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2026
  • But Japan’s experience suggests what can happen when a bunch of young people who did everything right to prepare for adulthood find the fruits of adulthood deferred, en masse.
    — Jay Caspian Kang, New Yorker, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of deferred
Verb
  • There, the president’s order and the post office rule enforcing it will certainly be opposed by the Court’s three liberal justices, who disagreed with the conclusion that opponents had filed their case too soon.
    — Sharon Bernstein, Sacbee.com, 30 Aug. 2026
  • The union has opposed such a window on the belief players would feel forced into subpar contracts.
    — Evan Drellich, New York Times, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of opposed
Verb
  • Researchers can use this moment to finally build the ethical infrastructure around the cultivation of insider sources and source compensation that the field has postponed for too long.
    — Arie Perliger, The Conversation, 31 Aug. 2026
  • Saturday’s game in Liberty was postponed after a Cardinals player suffered a medical emergency on the sideline and died.
    — The Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 30 Aug. 2026
Definition of postponed
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

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

“Held off.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/held%20off. Accessed 4 Sep. 2026.

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