defer to

phrasal verb

deferred to; deferring to; defers to

: to allow (someone else) to decide or choose something

You have more experience with this, so I'm going to defer to you.

deferring to the experts

defer to (something) : to agree to follow (someone else's decision, a tradition, etc.)

The court defers to precedent in cases like these.

He deferred to his parents' wishes.

Examples of defer to in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web In doing so, the justices set a higher legal standard to prevent judges from deferring to the labor board in pending disputes. —

David G. Savage, Los Angeles Times, 13 June 2024 The Council has a longstanding policy of deferring to local members on land use issues. —

Téa Kvetenadze, New York Daily News, 13 June 2024 The White House declined to comment on Scott’s remarks, deferring to the State Department. —

Max Greenwood, Miami Herald, 21 May 2024 The local company’s president declined to comment, deferring to the Unified Command center. —

Christine Condon, Baltimore Sun, 7 May 2024 See all Example Sentences for defer to

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'defer to.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.