fend off

verb

To defend against; to repel with force or effort

“They tried citronella to fend off the mosquitos, to no avail.”

Similar
turn awaydrive awayward offdebarforefendforfendobviatedeflect
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Meanings

verbfend off (third-person singular simple present fends off, present participle fending off, simple past and past participle fended off)

present singular third person fends off · participle present fending off · participle past fended off · past fended off

  1. To defend against; to repel with force or effort

    They tried citronella to fend off the mosquitos, to no avail.

    1 more example

    France spent large portions of the opening half in England territory and despite scoring the pick of the first-half tries - when Menager fended off Jess Breach to finish off a superb backs move - struggled to convert their chances.

    2024 April 27, Alastair Telfer, “England beat France to seal Grand Slam hat-trick”, in BBC Sport

    Synonyms: turn away, drive away, ward off

  2. nauticalTo prevent (a vessel) from running against anything with too much violence.

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo defend against; to repel with force or effort

Similar
turn awaydrive awayward off

More synonyms by meaning

verbprevent the occurrence of; prevent from happening; to protect from or to keep away anything undesirable; to ward off

Similar
debarforefendforfendobviatedeflectaverthead offstave offavoidward off
Broader
preventforestallforeclose
Also see
avertavoiddebardeflectforfendhead offobviateshut outstave offward off

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

fend + off

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Finnish torjua
  • torjuato ward off, drive (something) away, defend against
French repousser
  • repousserto ward off, drive (something) away, defend against
German abwehren
  • abwehrento ward off, drive (something) away, defend against
Greek αβαράρω
  • αβαράρω (avaráro)to ward off, drive (something) away, defend against
Portuguese repelir, afastar
  • repelirto ward off, drive (something) away, defend against
  • afastarto ward off, drive (something) away, defend against
Spanish repeler, ahuyentar
  • repelerto ward off, drive (something) away, defend against
  • ahuyentarto ward off, drive (something) away, defend against
  • alejarto ward off, drive (something) away, defend against
Turkish defetmek, kovmak
  • defetmekto ward off, drive (something) away, defend against
  • kovmakto ward off, drive (something) away, defend against
  • savuşturmakto ward off, drive (something) away, defend against
Cite this entry
APA

fend off. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fend%20off

MLA

“fend off.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fend%20off. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “fend off,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fend%20off.

Source: fend off on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.