hold off

/hoʊld ɑf/

/həʊld ɒf/

Other forms: held off; holding off; holds off

Definitions of hold off

1. verb

   wait before acting
   “the scientists held off announcing their results until they repeated the experiment”

   synonyms: hold back, wait

   types:

   hold out

   wait uncompromisingly for something desirable

   delay

   act later than planned, scheduled, or required

   hesitate, pause

   interrupt temporarily an activity before continuing

   dilly-dally, dillydally, drag one's feet, drag one's heels, procrastinate, shilly-shally, shillyshally, stall

   postpone doing what one should be doing

   procrastinate

   postpone or delay needlessly

   defer, hold over, postpone, prorogue, put off, put over, remit, set back, shelve, table

   hold back to a later time

   type of:

   act, move

   perform an action, or work out or perform (an action)
2. verb

   resist and fight to a standoff
   type of:

   hold out, resist, stand firm, withstand

   stand up or offer resistance to somebody or something