holding off

verb

present participle of hold off
1
as in turning back

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2
as in putting off

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Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for holding off
  1. turning back
  2. putting off
  3. turning away
  4. breaking off
  5. withstanding
  6. shelving
  7. resisting
  8. postponing
Verb
  • Tide turns back to franchises Then the tide started turning back toward familiar waters.
    — Andrew McGowan, Fortune, 4 Oct. 2026
  • Once the company and its shareholders become accustomed to such a financial boost, an environment where individual guest spending sharply increases even when domestic park attendance is soft or steady, there’s likely no turning back.
    — Todd Martens, Los Angeles Times, 29 Sep. 2026
Definition of turning back
Verb
  • According to Singhal, common signs include procrastination, impatience, feeling overwhelmed, and putting off decisions altogether.
    — Kriti Kumar, Vogue, 24 Oct. 2026
  • Angi data shows 60 percent of consumers are now putting off projects and switching to maintenance.
    — Kevin Williams, CNBC, 3 Oct. 2026
Definition of putting off
Verb
  • The party’s pro-Israel hawks say that turning away from Israel is out of step with the electorate.
    — Shelby Talcott, semafor.com, 26 Oct. 2026
  • Another option would be sending the Dream back to their much smaller regular-season home, although that would mean turning away thousands of potential fans for a championship game.
    — Amber Harding OutKick, FOXNews.com, 25 Oct. 2026
Definition of turning away
Verb
  • Walker turned the corner around a defender near the sideline, breaking off a 76-yard run to get Kansas City near the Las Vegas goal line.
    — Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 4 Oct. 2026
  • Experts believe Wednesday's mudslides and flash flooding across Nepal and China's Tibet region were caused by a large chunk of ice breaking off a glacier and falling into the Lhende Khola River.
    — Robert McGreevy, FOXNews.com, 29 Aug. 2026
Definition of breaking off
Verb
  • Nuclear facilities can require specialized molds capable of producing complex geometries with tight dimensional tolerances while withstanding substantial pressure from the concrete.
    — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 15 Oct. 2026
  • The founders of Plank Hardware create hardware made to offset a kitchen’s harsh fixtures, while still withstanding the wear and tear of daily use.
    — Lori Keong, Architectural Digest, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of withstanding
Verb
  • The rate of development of new headsets has slowed, with many companies (including Apple) scaling back or shelving their efforts.
    — Tim Stevens, ArsTechnica, 19 Oct. 2026
  • Moreover, the wall-to-wall negative press that Zaslav generated for shelving a finished movie (which was supposedly well received in test screenings) wasn’t worth the headache, according to studio sources.
    — Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 4 Oct. 2026
Definition of shelving
Verb
  • He was arrested for drug possession and resisting arrest, among other charges, and his girlfriend, riding with him, was charged with drug possession.
    — Rocco Parascandola, New York Daily News, 27 Oct. 2026
  • White was charged with assaulting, resisting or impeding federal officers or employees.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 27 Oct. 2026
Definition of resisting
Verb
  • If the numbers remain opaque, political incentives will continue to favor spending today and postponing recognition of the bill until later.
    — Judi Willard, Baltimore Sun, 27 Oct. 2026
  • Rubio warns against delaying transition Speaking on the record during the question-and-answer portion of the call, Rubio insisted that Washington would not allow the institutional reforms to become an excuse for postponing elections indefinitely.
    — Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of postponing
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

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

“Holding off.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/holding%20off. Accessed 30 Oct. 2026.

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