fend for

Related to fend for: fend for oneself

fend for (oneself)

To look after or take care of oneself without assistance from anyone else. Moving to a new country for college really made me learn to fend for myself. I won't be home from work until about 9 o'clock, so you and your sister will have to fend for yourselves for dinner. You're going to have to learn to fend for yourself before you head off to college.
See also: fend
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

fend for

v.
To provide for, take care of, or defend someone without assistance: We watched the bear fending for her cubs as the hunters approached. I had to fend for myself when I arrived in Europe alone.
See also: fend
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • put (oneself) on the line
  • put yourself on the line
  • kick oneself
  • kick yourself
  • put (one's) neck on the line
  • put neck on the line
  • put your neck on the line
  • wash hands of
  • wash your hands of
  • wash your hands of somebody/something
References in periodicals archive
For instance, the grizzly bear population in Yellowstone has declined as the Park Service has forced the bears to fend for themselves in an unnatural environment.
figure By CHARLES WANYORO A 33-year-old farmer who was caught with game meat has pleaded with a magistrate's court to set him free, saying he hunted the animals to save his family from starving.Mr Sammy Mwenda pleaded guilty to having three carcasses of the lesser kudu, suspected to have been hunted in the Meru National Park, saying he did it to fend for his family.
"I pray for forgiveness since I was doing it to fend for my family.
It all starts when Hannah's father decides to join the Yankees to fight, leaving behind his struggling family to fend for themselves on their little farm in the Cumberland mountains.
They were able to use their intellectual and emotional strategizing and fend for themselves very well.
The judge concluded that the Minister's proposed placement was contrary to J.'s welfare and would not enhance her ability to care and fend for herself.
MaryJake thinks she's going with her family but instead is dropped off at the edge of a forest and told to go on into town and fend for herself as best she can.
But then he knows what it's like when you're alone in the big bad world, having been left to fend for himself from a very early age.
Even with Mom nearby, the little lizards had to fend for themselves.
Rose and her 12-year-old sister Maureen are left to fend for themselves on the streets of New York City.
Often from the belief that more highly educated workers "are better able to fend for themselves -- but sometimes simply from inexperience .
While Hannah waits in Budapest, Malka is shipped back to Poland to fend for herself in the ghetto for the next seven months.
One of her cousins, Nicole, has run away to Germany in order to save herself but feels bad about leaving Holly and her sister Amanda to fend for themselves.