fend off

phrasal verb

fended off; fending off; fends off

: to defend oneself against (someone or something)

They succeeded in fending off the attack/attackers.

They have had to fend off allegations of voter fraud.

Examples of fend off in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

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However, there are still three more weeks left this season, and with Detroit defenders getting injured at an alarming rate, the Eagles or Vikings could wind up being the NFC team resting the first week of the playoffs while the Lions will have to fend off a wild-card foe. —

Austin Mock, The Athletic, 17 Dec. 2024 Go deeper: Striking port workers are trying to fend off the inevitable Editor's note: This article has been updated with more details from the negotiations. —

Rebecca Falconer, Axios, 12 Dec. 2024 The goal was to fend off attacks from world powers like the United States and Russia, both of which had intervened in the Syrian civil war to target Islamist groups like Al Qaeda and ISIS. —

Mostafa Salem, CNN, 6 Dec. 2024 Dollar General is testing same-day delivery to customers’ homes as the deep discounter tries to fend off fiercer competition with Walmart. —

Melissa Repko, NBC News, 5 Dec. 2024 See all Example Sentences for fend off