fight off

Related to fight off: fight shy of

fight off

To push back or defend against someone or something that is advancing. A noun or pronoun can be used between "fight" and "off." What is the best way to fight off an attacker? If you feel like you're getting a cold, these vitamin C tablets should help you to fight it off.
See also: fight, off
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

fight someone or something off

to repel an attack from someone or something. We fought the enemy attack off, but they returned almost immediately. She fought off the mosquitoes all evening. Jed fought the attacker off.
See also: fight, off
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

fight off

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.
See also: fight, off
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

fight off

v.
To defend against or drive back someone or something, such as a hostile force or an infection: The enemy is advancing, but the troops will fight them off. The doctor told me to rest so I can fight off this cold.
See also: fight, off
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • ask back
  • not do (someone or oneself) any favors
  • rescue from
  • rescue from (someone or something)
  • back into
  • back into (someone or something)
  • identify with
  • attune to
  • orient to
  • orient to (something)
References in periodicals archive
"We can and will fight off this bid," said Blue Circle chairman Lord Tugendhat.
Blue Circle ready to mix it with Lafarge in fight for independence
Melbourne, May 12 (ANI): A woman's attempts to fight off the sexual advances of a drunken passenger onboard a Virgin Atlantic flight allegedly sparked a wild brawl between the two, resulting in almost 40,000 dollars of damage to the aircraft.
Drunken passenger 'tears off woman's clothes during mid-air brawl'
A NEW study has backed up claims that zinc can help fight off a cold.
Cold comfort from zinc
Karl Bowes, Coventry team manager, said: "As a team, we are very excited about going to Arundel to take part in the finals and will strive to fight off the fierce competition we come up against."
Cricketers to play at castle
By poring over this new information, the researchers identified several genes probably involved in the organism's ability to adhere to the vaginal wall and fight off a person's immune system, the team reports in the Jan.
Trichomoniasis-causing organism is sequenced
Troubled Rentokil Initial said its recovery was on course as it revealed costs of pounds 10m to fight off a takeover approach from former Granada boss Sir Gerry Robinson.
Rentokil spent pounds 10m in fending off Sir Gerry
They can scarcely fight off an evil enchanter who threatens to destroy their city, Caprona.
The Magicians of Caprona
These cells didn't work properly, so his body couldn't fight off infections--even a cold.
Cancer champ
The factory remains in I lim Pulp's control, but the company continues to fight off a takeover.
Meanwhile, a business battle rages back home
The second is, do people see Britain as part of Europe or do people see Britain as always having to fight off Europe?
Leaders promote the benefits
Battling parents occupying a doomed Scots school's classroom have vowed to fight off bulldozers.
Sit-in parents won't budge
After four months, the people who took 200 mg of E a day had stronger responses to vaccines for hepatitis B and tetanus than those who took the placebo--that is, they created more antibodies to fight off future attacks of the illnesses.
E boosts immunity
"At first I wasn't sure that I had the talent, but I did know I had a fear of failure, and that fear compelled me to fight off anything that might abet it.
Voices in the Mirror: An Autobiography
BRAVE: Quick-thinking Javed grabbed the bin to fight off the robber
RAIDER IS BINNED
PATIENTS at Coventry's University Hospital may be given yoghurt drinks to help them fight off life-threatening superbugs.
Yoghurt may help hospital's bug fight; HEALTH: Trials show beneficial effects