fight off

verb

1. to repulse; repel

2. to struggle to avoid or repress

   to fight off a cold

Idioms and Phrases

Defend against, drive back, as in I've been fighting off a cold all week. This figurative use of the term, originally meaning “to repel an enemy” dates from the early 1800s.

Example Sentences

In the span of just a few months, Google has fought off concerns that AI would kill its Search business and has transformed Gemini from a second-rate chatbot into a serious competitor to OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

Read more on MarketWatch

Vitamin C has long been sold as a winter essential, but according to Dr McCartney, the evidence simply isn't strong enough to recommend it when it comes to fighting off colds.

Read more on BBC

Cells at Work! - which has also seen its release postponed - is a live action movie based on a manga about human blood cells fighting off viruses.

Read more on BBC

Relying on a simplistic narrative of patriotism, religious faith, benevolent oligarchic rule and the restoration of lost national glory, Franco largely succeeded in fighting off the enormous social and cultural changes of the postwar decades.

Read more on Salon

De Minaur fought off two break points in the opening game of the semi-final but then failed to convert any of the three he carved out in Sinner's first service game.

Read more on Barron's