Meaning of defer to sb/sth In English

• 0 to allow someone or something to make decisions for you or tell you what to do because of your respect for them or because of their higher rank, authority, knowledge, etc.:

  • I have to defer to my boss on important decisions.

  • I defer to (= accept) your judgment.

• 1 to allow another person or organization to make decisions for you because you respect them, or because of their higher rank, greater knowledge, etc.:

  • For this type of decision, I usually defer to my boss.

  • In the last few years, the authority mostly has deferred to private developers to handle warehousing and distribution projects, because this is not the area of their expertise.