fend off

Related to fend off: ward off

fend off

1. To fight off someone or something that is advancing. A noun or pronoun can be used between "fend" and "off." What is the best way to fend off an attacker? Her bodyguards tried to fend off all the photographers, but there were too many.
2. To try to prevent something. A noun or pronoun can be used between "fend" and "off." Getting a flu shot will help you to fend off future illness.
See also: fend, off
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

fend someone or something off

to hold someone or something off; to fight someone or something off. We knew we could fend them off only a little while longer. They could not fend off the attackers.
See also: fend, off
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

fend off

v.
1. To try to prevent something; avert something: To fend off cavities, brush your teeth regularly.
2. To turn something aside; repel something: The troops fended the enemy off. My neighbor fended off the reporters who blocked her driveway.
See also: fend, off
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • base off (of) (something else)
  • bite off
  • blow off
  • blow someone/something off
  • blow off the map
  • brass off
  • brass someone off
  • brassed off
References in periodicals archive
Al-Anba reported Hayward said the offer was part of an effort to fend off takeover bids by other international oil companies in the wake of the devastating oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico.
Mr Callaghan, who had been watching the action on closed-circuit television at the Home Office, went to Grosvenor Square to see the police fend off the demonstrators.
As it continues to fend off a rival bid for the Reckson portfolio from renegade investor, Carl Ichan, SL Green has been busy ramping up its own stock in the city, announcing investments in several midtown propertiers.
Delta Air Lines Seeks Creditor Help To Fend Off US Air Bid - Report.
At the same time, the machine adopts MHI's proprietary "Smart Yaw" technology to fend off occasional gusty strong winds and withstand hurricane-force wind velocities up to 70m/sec.
Thompson and his colleagues began with bacteria from the genus Streptomyces, soil bacteria that share an ancestor with Mycobacterium and are champions of producing antibiotics that fend off other microbes.
To find and keep balance in your life and fend off burnout, Verna Price, Ph.D., recommends the practice of "being present."
RIT and IT security company McAfee partnered for the second year to provide students with hands-on experience in building and defending "digital fortresses." During a 24-hour period this spring, students had to fend off network attacks simulated by McAfee engineers.
JFK in 1960 had to fend off questions about his Catholicism.
By all accounts, Quinn had to fend off some tough tackling.
In response, the organization explores ways to reduce costs and improve efficiency to fend off competition.
A radical Islamic group yesterday drew 1,000 delegates to a London conference as it debated how to fend off Prime Minister Tony Blair's plans to ban it in Britain.
Love is supposed to count for something in this novel, though fending off its presence doesn't do much to fend off the outer dark.
We've all done stupid things when we're drunk, and it sounds like you did your inebriated best to fend off this lass - but a picture paints a thousand words.
Males must fend off "floaters"--homeless males that try to move in.