fend off

1. 1.

   prevent the occurrence of; prevent from happening

   “Let's avoid a confrontation”

   “head off a confrontation”

   “avert a strike”

   Synonymsdebarforefendforfendobviatedeflectaverthead offstave offavoidward off

   Broaderprevent

Questions about fend off

What does fend off mean?

fend off means "prevent the occurrence of; prevent from happening".

What is another word for fend off?

Close synonyms include debar, forefend, forfend, obviate, deflect. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is fend off a common word?

fend off is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.