1 B1 neutral
To defend yourself successfully against a physical attacker by fighting.
"She managed to fight off her assailant and escape."
separable
fight off
B1 neutral separable transitive
To defend yourself successfully against an attacker, illness, or an unwanted thing by fighting or struggling against it.
In plain English
To successfully stop someone or something from harming you by fighting hard.
What does "fight off" mean?
3 meanings, ordered from most common to least. Color-coded by CEFR level.
2 B1 idiomatic neutral
To overcome or recover from an illness or infection.
"It took him two weeks to fight off the infection."
separable
3 B2 idiomatic neutral
To resist or overcome a competitor, challenge, or rival successfully.
"The champion fought off a strong challenge from the young contender to retain his title."
separable
Literal vs figurative
Words literally mean
To fight someone or something in the direction off (away from you), successfully pushing it back.
Actually means
To successfully stop someone or something from harming you by fighting hard.
Usage tip
Used in physical, medical, and figurative contexts. Very common in sports reporting ('fight off a challenge') and health contexts ('fight off a cold'). Implies success — the threat is repelled. Compare with 'fight back', which focuses on the resistance, not necessarily the outcome.
Words that pair with "fight off"
Natural word combinations native speakers use most often.
attacker illness infection challenge competition fatigue
How to conjugate "fight off"
The five tense forms you'll use most often.
Base
fight off
I/you/we/they
3rd person
fights off
he/she/it
Past simple
fought off
yesterday
Past participle
fought off
have + pp
-ing form
fighting off
continuous
Hear "fight off" in the wild
Listen to native speakers using "fight off" in real YouTube videos — click a clip to watch it on Looplines.
Keep exploring
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