ward off

phrasal verb

warded off; warding off; wards off

: to avoid being hit by (something)

ward off a blow

—often used figuratively

I tried different remedies to ward off a cold.

Examples of ward off in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

And in 2017, AOL discontinued its Instant Messenger — a chat platform that was once lauded as the biggest trend in online communication since email when it was founded in 1997, but later struggled to ward off rivals. —Wyatte Grantham-Philips, Fortune, 12 Aug. 2025

Your overall physical and mental health matters in your ability to ward off stress and communicate more effectively with those around you. —Joyce E. A. Russell, Forbes.com, 10 Aug. 2025

And don’t forget to bring something to ward off bugs—and in some cases, hand sanitizer might be able to pull double-duty. —Andrea Beck, Better Homes & Gardens, 2 Aug. 2025

The bear mauled the hiker, who unloaded his entire can of spray deterrent to ward off the bear, first to stop the attack and then a second time when the bear returned. —Mark Thiessen, Chicago Tribune, 29 July 2025

Rhymes for ward off

• ashraf
• checkoff
• cutoff
• falloff
• handoff
• kickoff
• layoff
• liftoff
• markoff
• markov
• payoff
• playoff