as in to protect
to drive danger or attack away from
a place of refuge where the settlers could forfend themselves from attack
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Recent Examples of forfend
What’s non-negotiable is that it must be made using a kettle, never — heaven forfend — a microwave.
—
Maureen O'Hare, CNN, 15 Mar. 2025
For people who spend too much time debating politics or surfing the internet -- or, heaven forfend, doing both at the same time -- engagement with the real world can present something of a ...
—Charles C. W. Cooke, National Review, 23 May 2024
In the United States, instead of building more houses inside the old circle (or, heaven forfend, even closer together and near the places people go), people have built houses even further away.
—Adam Rogers, Wired, 30 Dec. 2021
But is Twitter outrage (or, heaven forfend, praise) a useful metric for audience engagement?
—Bethy Squires, Vulture, 27 May 2021
Heaven forfend!
—Ron Charles, Washington Post, 3 July 2020
And of course the president says oh, my gosh, heaven forfend that poor Omarosa would have to go.
—Fox News, 14 Aug. 2018
Maureen O'Hare, CNN, 15 Mar. 2025
For people who spend too much time debating politics or surfing the internet -- or, heaven forfend, doing both at the same time -- engagement with the real world can present something of a ...
—Charles C. W. Cooke, National Review, 23 May 2024
In the United States, instead of building more houses inside the old circle (or, heaven forfend, even closer together and near the places people go), people have built houses even further away.
—Adam Rogers, Wired, 30 Dec. 2021
But is Twitter outrage (or, heaven forfend, praise) a useful metric for audience engagement?
—Bethy Squires, Vulture, 27 May 2021
Heaven forfend!
—Ron Charles, Washington Post, 3 July 2020
And of course the president says oh, my gosh, heaven forfend that poor Omarosa would have to go.
—Fox News, 14 Aug. 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for forfend
Verb
-
With his back against the wall, Tony must draw on his tactical training to protect his family and survive a deadly showdown with a powerful crime syndicate.—
Andreas Wiseman,
Deadline,
12 Sep. 2025
-
Some Cosmists saw technology as destructive and transformative, while others believed its role should be to protect and preserve.—
Tim Brinkhof,
Big Think,
12 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Tesla spent years defending, ultimately successfully, its 2016 acquisition of Solar City, Musk’s struggling clean-energy company.—
Liz Hoffman,
semafor.com,
16 Sep. 2025
-
Acosta defended the deal with Epstein in a news conference four days after the multi-millionaire's arrest.—
James Hill,
ABC News,
15 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
This safeguards regulatory adherence while ensuring fair market competition between domestic and imported products.—
Nish Acharya,
Forbes.com,
12 Sep. 2025
-
Advertisement Advertisement Yet, the decades-long effort to secure passage of the VRA offers pragmatic wisdom for safeguarding—and even extending—the gains enshrined by the law.—
Time,
Time,
12 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Demerzel shields the embryo with her body, and both are incinerated, vanishing in a white-hot instant, love and code consumed together.—
JP Mangalindan,
Time,
12 Sep. 2025
-
This consistency, Nassau argues, shields founders from the reputational hit of a prior lead refusing to participate in follow-ons.—
Lyssanoel Frater,
USA Today,
12 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
The result is an erosion of individual agency and a system that guards access rather than broadens it.—
Anmol Verma,
Forbes.com,
11 Sep. 2025
-
This conversation should always be open, hones, and not guarded or ashamed.—
Taylor Lane,
Flow Space,
10 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Forfend.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/forfend. Accessed 16 Sep. 2025.
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