How to Use defer to in a Sentence

defer to

phrasal verb
  • The coin landed on heads, and the Chiefs deferred to the second half.
    Steve Gardner, USA TODAY, 11 Feb. 2024
  • Your job is to guide them and inform them, not defer to strong opinions.
    Joan Herlong, Forbes, 28 Nov. 2023
  • Good leadership knows when to defer to those who do know best.
    Lila MacLellan, Fortune, 19 Dec. 2023
  • By deferring to the those on the ground, visitors can help support the areas that need it most.
    Rachel Chang, Condé Nast Traveler, 4 Aug. 2023
  • All the local agencies either denied the requests or deferred to the ATF.
    Gabrielle Lamarr Lemee, Los Angeles Times, 15 Dec. 2023
  • Bannister deferring to Ada as the mistress of the house instead of Agnes.
    Brent Lang, Variety, 18 Dec. 2023
  • In dissent, Judge Helene White said the court should be wary of deferring to the government.
    David G. Savage, Los Angeles Times, 7 May 2024
  • But largely, the court seemed to defer to timelines suggested by the parties.
    Ashley Belanger, Ars Technica, 26 Oct. 2023
  • The bride is deferring to her father and stepmother, who are paying for most of the wedding.
    Jeanne Phillips, The Mercury News, 29 Feb. 2024
  • Asked for further comment, a CDI spokesperson deferred to the statement.
    Stephen Whyno, BostonGlobe.com, 3 July 2023
  • Rubenstein deferred to Elias when asked about payroll during a forum in late March.
    Jacob Calvin Meyer, Baltimore Sun, 13 Apr. 2024
  • Contacted on Tuesday, the five TV networks either did not comment or deferred to the text of the letter.
    Michael M. Grynbaum, New York Times, 9 Apr. 2024
  • Meanwhile, Kiffin deferred to the school’s statement when asked for comment.
    Ainslie Lee | Alee@al.com, al, 15 Sep. 2023
  • Ambulances and insurers would first defer to the 14 states that have some kind of ambulance surprise billing law on the books.
    Bob Herman and Tara Bannow, STAT, 9 Nov. 2023
  • The United States has deferred to Canada to lead such a force, though Ottawa has also been reluctant.
    Bryan Pietsch, Washington Post, 31 Aug. 2023
  • Patel also defers to her patients’ preference, as long as the sunscreen is broad-spectrum and has an SPF of at least 30.
    Sam Jones, Scientific American, 6 Sep. 2023
  • The film’s title may well defer to Woolf’s protagonist.
    Manuel Betancourt, Variety, 17 Nov. 2023
  • Asked to comment, the Police Department deferred to the mayor’s office.
    Sean Cotter, BostonGlobe.com, 7 Aug. 2023
  • When asked for comment, a spokesperson for the Television Academy deferred to Fox, which declined to comment on the matter.
    Elizabeth Joseph, CNN, 28 July 2023
  • Jordan deferred to Comer when asked whether his committee wanted to hear from Hunter Biden himself.
    Jacqueline Alemany, Anchorage Daily News, 14 Sep. 2023
  • Someone else got the role but, after a couple of days of rehearsals, producers wanted him back and deferred to the original contract.
    Scarlett Harris, Los Angeles Times, 20 May 2024
  • So recent is this trend that some Spaniards still defer to the longer-aged designations as the be-all and end-all of the oenological spectrum, even when the cosechas on the menu are comparably priced.
    Mike Desimone and Jeff Jenssen, Robb Report, 5 Aug. 2023
  • Asked about his practice status, Stevenson noted that the team is managing his workload and then deferred to coach Bill Belichick.
    Nicole Yang, BostonGlobe.com, 2 Aug. 2023
  • When the use of AI presents clear safety risks, agencies should not defer to industry for solutions and should be proactive in setting limits.
    IEEE Spectrum, 30 July 2023
  • That audience, for Christof and for all those who defer to him, rationalizes everything else.
    Megan Garber, The Atlantic, 20 June 2023
  • Kiffin declined to comment, deferring to the statement.
    J. Brady McCollough, Los Angeles Times, 17 Sep. 2023
  • As a reminder, Major League Baseball has done away with one-game playoffs to determine playoff standing and deferred to a series of tiebreakers.
    Jr Radcliffe, Journal Sentinel, 28 Aug. 2023
  • Cnn this past week published an egregious example of news media deferring to power — one that stands out in a sea of such examples in recent years.
    Becket Adams, National Review, 17 Sep. 2023
  • Natural beekeepers think of themselves as deferring to the bees for guidance.
    Sam Knight, The New Yorker, 21 Aug. 2023
  • But the agency punted, deferring to the G.B.I., despite the smaller agency’s modest resources and inability to cross state lines.
    Charles Bethea, The New Yorker, 22 Oct. 2023

Some of 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.

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