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fight off

British  

verb

  1. to repulse; repel

  2. 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  

  1. 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.

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

From Barron's • Apr. 3, 2026

Watching women fight off the arms of the occult has a clock on it.

From Salon • Mar. 29, 2026

Back in the Red Sea at the end of April, the Navy was growing increasingly frayed by the need to constantly fight off the Houthi drones and missiles.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 26, 2026

"Some parents question why children need so many or think that their children are healthy enough to fight off these diseases," adds Ashraf.

From BBC • Feb. 21, 2026

I fight off the panic, trying to keep my mind from spiraling downward, and force myself to even my breathing.

From "Warcross" by Marie Lu

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

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.