fend off
phrasal verb
fended off; fending off; fends off
: to defend oneself against (someone or something)
They succeeded in fending off the attack/attackers.
They have had to fend off allegations of voter fraud.
Examples of fend off in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
And Celebrini, who’s often carried San Jose in this unexpected season, could only do so much to fend off those defeats.
—
Eric Stephens, New York Times, 24 Feb. 2026
But the five-year-old company is racing to fend off growing competition from rivals like OpenAI and Google, who have also set their sights on lucrative enterprise contracts.
—Ashley Capoot, CNBC, 24 Feb. 2026
For the coldest months, the Thule Footmuff has been essential in fending off Chicago’s brutal winter.
—Erica Zazo, Outside, 20 Feb. 2026
The more kinds of plants, the more defenses to fend off the blights and insect infestations that ran unobstructed through landowners’ large mono-crop fields.
—Literary Hub, 19 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for fend off
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Eric Stephens, New York Times, 24 Feb. 2026
But the five-year-old company is racing to fend off growing competition from rivals like OpenAI and Google, who have also set their sights on lucrative enterprise contracts.
—Ashley Capoot, CNBC, 24 Feb. 2026
For the coldest months, the Thule Footmuff has been essential in fending off Chicago’s brutal winter.
—Erica Zazo, Outside, 20 Feb. 2026
The more kinds of plants, the more defenses to fend off the blights and insect infestations that ran unobstructed through landowners’ large mono-crop fields.
—Literary Hub, 19 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for fend off
Cite this Entry
“Fend off.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fend%20off. Accessed 2 Mar. 2026.
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