Question

Choose the meaning of Put Off:
A. To decline
B. To postpone
C. To neglect
D. To refuse

Answer 1

Hint: The phrase to put off something means to delay or to slow down something.

Complete step-by-step answer:

‘To put off’ is a phrase. It is a small collection of words that enhances a sentence’s meaning. This phrase has several meanings. It could mean to delay some action or task. It could mean to dissuade someone from doing something. In essence, the word has a negative connotation and it is detrimental to the prompt completion of an action.

 Eg. Tina kept putting off her assignment as her deadline was two weeks away.

Let us examine this example. Here, we see that Tina has an assignment to complete. However, she keeps putting off her work and delaying her progress. We know that she is doing this as her deadline gives her a false sense of security that there is a lot of time till the deadline and that she can finish her assignment at some other time. Here, we can clearly see that putting off means to postpone or to delay an action. Hence, Option B. to postpone is the correct answer.


 Note: It is easy to get confused and to select the other options as the right answer. Therefore, make sure that you know what different phrases mean. Option A. To decline, means to refuse something. Option C. To neglect, means to not pay attention to something. Option D. To refuse, means to reject something. As none of these words match the meaning of the question, they are incorrect. Option B. to postpone, means to put off and hence, it is the solution.