Synonyms

stave off

British

verb

(tr, adverb) to avert or hold off (something undesirable or harmful), esp temporarily

to stave off hunger

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

stave off Idioms

Keep or hold away, repel, as in The Federal Reserve Board is determined to stave off inflation. This metaphoric expression transfers beating something off with a staff or stave to nonphysical repulsion. [c. 1600]

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

They wouldn’t get any closer, on account of USC’s star freshman, who personally staved off any serious threat of a Badger comeback.

From Los Angeles Times

The all-rounder has stood up and proved himself the man for a crisis, delivering match-winning late "death" overs against associate nations Nepal and Italy to stave off embarrassing defeats.

From Barron's

Crops needed to stave off starvation have been decimated.

From The Wall Street Journal

Although researchers didn’t identify steps you can take to stave off symptoms, there are some conditions that are associated with a good—or bad—response.

From The Wall Street Journal

Your book is full of practical strategies for staving off digital exhaustion.

From Los Angeles Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023