How to Use fight off in a Sentence

fight off

phrasal verb
Definition of fight offnext
  • This is the brain’s way of telling our body to be on high alert to fight off danger.
    — Discover Magazine, 20 May 2024
  • Shepherd, who was four months pregnant, tried to fight off the man.
    — Kyle Melnick, Washington Post, 17 Nov. 2023
  • The Ducks fought off a big pushback by the Lightning in Sunday’s win.
    — Eric Stephens, The Athletic, 6 Jan. 2025
  • White Hall fought off a pair of set points but couldn’t avoid going behind 2-1 in the match.
    — Tanner Spearman, Arkansas Online, 18 Oct. 2023
  • Reigns fought off all the heels and dove onto the heels, shades of babyface Roman Reigns.
    — Alfred Konuwa, Forbes, 30 Nov. 2024
  • Judy and her babysitter must fight off the evil spirits and try not to get possessed.
    — Keith Langston, Peoplemag, 8 Sep. 2023
  • The two fight off enemies who try and fail to prevent them from getting to the vault.
    — Vulture, 8 July 2023
  • Ripley hit the ring and fought off both Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez.
    — Alfred Konuwa, Forbes, 21 Oct. 2024
  • More great reads ‘This is our house’: Mom and son fought off Palisades fire with pump, hose and pool water.
    — Hunter Clauss, Los Angeles Times, 11 Jan. 2025
  • Standing in front of them, Martinez fought off a twinge of panic and started mouthing the words along with them.
    — Julyssa Lopez, Rolling Stone, 29 May 2023
  • This shocking video shows a Chick-fil-A worker fight off a gunman.
    — Nicole Fallert, USA TODAY, 2 Aug. 2024
  • The runs helped the Royals fight off a late Athletics comeback.
    — Jaylon Thompson, Kansas City Star, 20 June 2024
  • The story goes that my grandmother helped fight off the bandits.
    — Jack Smart, Peoplemag, 7 Mar. 2024
  • Now in 2024 he’s once again brought in the state’s best players in West and Scott, fighting off the Buckeyes’ biggest rival in the process.
    — Stephen Means, cleveland, 30 July 2023
  • The woman was able to fight off the suspect and escape, deputies said, adding that the suspect fled on the trail toward Sebastopol.
    — Daniella Segura, Sacramento Bee, 27 June 2024
  • In taking antibiotics to fight off an infection, the body has to do its part to get well.
    — Tribune Content Agency, The Mercury News, 30 Sep. 2024
  • The clip showed Shang-Chi, Katy, and Wenwu fighting off a heaving zombie horde.
    — Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 12 Dec. 2024
  • He was placed on antibiotics to fight off the infection.
    — Anders Hagstrom, Fox News, 28 Feb. 2024
  • While the wife hid in a bathroom and called police, her husband managed to fight off the attacker.
    — Stepheny Price, Fox News, 1 Jan. 2025
  • Serving at 5-6, Muchova began the game with a double fault and had to fight off four more match points to stay alive.
    — Dan Wolken, USA TODAY, 9 Sep. 2023
  • When exposed, the body may fight off the germ, or the germ may infect the throat, lungs, stomach, intestines, ears, or nervous system.
    — Heidi Moawad, Verywell Health, 18 Jan. 2025
  • They’re known for fighting off large predators that threaten calves.
    — Travis Hall, Field & Stream, 15 June 2023
  • As one of the men raped her the other fought off her 34-year-old boyfriend, who tried to intervene, striking him with an object, cops said.
    — Roni Jacobson, New York Daily News, 12 Aug. 2024
  • The Gladiators fought off the Gators’ comeback attempt in the bottom half to preserve a 6-4 win.
    — Jacob Steinberg, Baltimore Sun, 18 Apr. 2024
  • Swollen glands near your neck may be a sign that your body is fighting off bacteria or viruses.
    — Maggie O'Neill, Health, 30 June 2023
  • Some of them are what's going on at the level of the immune system and helping amp up the immune system to fight off the cancer.
    — Taylor Wilson, USA TODAY, 1 Sep. 2023
  • Along with the help of some friends, Shaun fights off the invading zombies, while trying to keep his family safe.
    — Amy MacKelden, ELLE, 6 Sep. 2023
  • As a result, more immune cells circulate in the blood, which can then fight off the infectious agents.
    — Desireé Oostland, Vogue, 29 July 2024
  • For decades, the focus was on fighting off terrorists and insurgents.
    — Dexter Filkins, The New Yorker, 3 Feb. 2025
  • There were no signs of a home intruder, police said, and Greenberg did not have any defensive wounds from fighting off an attacker.
    — Julia Reinstein, ABC News, 4 Feb. 2025

Some of 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.

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