Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. to put off, to evade (a creditor, a questioner).

1878		J.H. Beadle Western Wilds 38: He offered him fifty thousand for it, and the feller stood him off for seventy-five thousand.
1881		‘Bill Nye’ Bill Nye and Boomerang 15: They [...] unitedly ‘stood off’ the landlady from month to month.
1902		Ade Forty Modern Fables 38: If any Sufferer happened to be Broke, he went to Doc, because Doc was a Good Fellow, who could be Stood Off.

2. (US) to keep at a distance, to repel, to hold at bay.

1884		Ally Sloper’s Half Holiday 31 May 35/2: [I] hev stood off every other galoot that has tried to chip in.
1896		Ade Artie (1963) 52: Besides, would n’t I make a picture if she’d stand me off?
1902		Ade Forty Modern Fables 3: She got what she wanted and he took his Chances standing off the Wolf at the Door.
1924		G.H. Lawson Dict. of Aus. Words And Terms 🌐 STAND OFF—To keep out.
1938		W. Smitter F.O.B. Detroit 75: She’s not hard-boiled. That’s only put on to stand off the tough guys that she danced with.

3. to gain or extend credit.

1893		St Louis Post-Dispatch (MO) 3 Dec. 17/7: ‘To stand off’ is to charge or get anything on credit.
1913		J. London Valley of the Moon (1914) 199: I was goin’ to stand off the butcher an’ the rest for a while.
1920		Ade Hand-made Fables 29: Dad was up on the Firing-Line, trying to stand off the Pay-Roll.
1926		J. Black You Can’t Win (2000) 53: I told her I was broke, and asked her to stand me off for a few days till I could get a job.