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 Buncombe County officials, who previously reported 72 deaths, are now deferring to a state tally of 42 deaths for the county. —

Alexandra Banner, CNN, 23 Oct. 2024 When push comes to shove, companies will defer to prioritizing profits over employees. —

Jack Kelly, Forbes, 22 Oct. 2024 The most significant of those rulings came in June, when the conservative majority overturned a 40-year-old decision that said courts must defer to an agency's reasonable interpretation of an ambiguous law passed by Congress. —

Melissa Quinn, CBS News, 21 Oct. 2024 The new regulations clarify rules and time lines and, most significantly, direct museums to defer to a tribal nation’s knowledge of its customs, traditions, and histories when making their repatriation decisions. —

Patricia Failing, ARTnews.com, 21 Oct. 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.