— Phrasal Verb with defer(••/dɪˈfɜːr/ verb [T] (-rr-)
FORMAL
► 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.