fight off

phrasal verb

fought off; fighting off; fights off

: to defend oneself against (someone or something) by fighting or struggling : to avoid being harmed or overcome by (someone or something) by fighting or struggling

They fought off the attack/attackers.

I'm trying to fight off a cold.

Examples of fight off in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web While Logan, the last film in the Wolverine trilogy, sees the Adamantium-clawed hero die, the latest film’s opening scene features Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) resurrecting his corpse to fight off a squadron of Time Variance Authority officers. —

The Deadline Team, Deadline, 17 Aug. 2024 Southwest Airlines, which is trying to turn things around after a few years of uneven financial performance, is fighting off an activist hedge fund that wants to clean house in its C-suite and board of directors. —

Melvin Backman, Quartz, 12 Aug. 2024 On a noteworthy play Saturday, Robinson fought off a block by Pro Bowl fullback Alec Ingold and turned an Achane run back to the inside where Achane was stopped for no gain. —

Chris Perkins, Sun Sentinel, 3 Aug. 2024 This shocking video shows a Chick-fil-A worker fight off a gunman. —

Nicole Fallert, USA TODAY, 2 Aug. 2024 See all Example Sentences for fight off

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'fight off.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.