hold off

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hold off (third-person singular simple present holds off, present participle holding off, simple past and past participle held off)

1. (idiomatic, transitive) To delay (someone or something) temporarily; to keep at bay.

   Let's try to hold off the lawyers until we are ready for them.

   • 2014 November 2, Daniel Taylor, “Sergio Agüero strike wins derby for Manchester City against 10-man United”, in guardian.co.uk:

     The breakthrough came after 63 minutes as United’s unorthodox defence desperately tried to hold off a spell of sustained pressure.

2. (idiomatic, transitive, intransitive) To delay commencing (an action until some specified time or event has passed).

   Hold off (on) the decision one more day so I can answer your question.

   Hold off (on) baking until I get there.

• postpone, put off

• holdoff (noun)

• offhold