fight off

British

verb

to repulse; repel
to struggle to avoid or repress

to fight off a cold

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

fight off Idioms

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

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

That’s the biggest spread above the 200-DMA since April 2000, as the SOX was trying to fight off the popping of the dot-com bubble.

From MarketWatch • May 15, 2026

A ragtag group of Duffer Brothers misfits teaming up to fight off eldritch horror might be the last safe bet in television.

From Los Angeles Times • May 8, 2026

A 16-year-old managed to fight off competition from hundreds of plucky competitors to win an annual race through a boggy riverbed.

From BBC • Apr. 26, 2026

The proposed legislation aims to fight off any nascent Chinese advantage in those market segments.

From Barron's • Apr. 3, 2026

Any wound makes it harder to fight off disease and insects.

From "Wishtree" by Katherine Applegate

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023