hold off

British  

verb

1. (tr) to keep apart or at a distance

2. to refrain (from doing something)

   he held off buying the house until prices fell slightly

---

hold off Idioms  

1. Keep at a distance, resist, delay, as in This payment should hold off the creditors . [Early 1400]

2. Stop or delay from action, as in Let's hold off until we know more . [c. 1600]

---

Example Sentences

Back at Sam's daughter Rubie's school in Hampshire, the complete ban on smartphones for new starters has made a "huge difference" already, with many parents holding off buying them.

From BBC

Watching the news, she expresses genuine sadness at reports of a tragedy or children with high screen time, but holds off on offering opinions or specific policy goals as first lady.

From BBC

My mother stayed in the hospital on bedrest as her doctors held off labor.

From The Wall Street Journal

They had extension offers before last season but held off signing them.

From Los Angeles Times

Instead, he has more generically invoked the example of former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, who in the mid-1990s held off on raising interest rates as the economy expanded steadily because inflation pressures were mild.

From The Wall Street Journal