hold off
BothSense-dependent: some meanings take an object and split, others take none. Check the sense you mean.
How to say it
Stress the particle, not the verb: hold OFF. Saying “HOLD off” is the clearest learner tell — the verb stays light and the particle carries the beat.
Link across the gap. The final /d/ of “hold” moves onto the particle and starts its syllable: “hold off” is said “hol-doff”. Pausing between the words is what makes phrasal verbs sound recited rather than spoken.
2 meanings
- 1
To delay doing something.
- “Let's hold off on the announcement until Monday.”
Similar: delay, postpone
- 2
To resist an attack or an approach.
- “They held off the challengers for the whole second half.”
Similar: repel, fend off