as in turning back
to drive back
the herd fended off attacking hyenas
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fending (off)
Verb
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One thing that particularly excited him was turning back the clock for exteriors on New York’s Lower East Side, where the tight shooting schedule often required the art department to transform locations as quickly as possible.—
Jim Hemphill,
IndieWire,
6 Jan. 2026 -
There’s turning back up until the deed is done.—
Kate Aurthur,
Variety,
7 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Trump administration officials say the officer, Jonathan Ross, shot her in self-defense, although videos of the encounter show the Honda Pilot slowly turning away from him.—
Alanna Durkin Richer,
Chicago Tribune,
21 Jan. 2026
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Trump administration officials say the officer, Jonathan Ross, shot her in self-defense, although videos of the encounter show the Honda Pilot slowly turning away from him.—
Steve Karnowski,
Los Angeles Times,
20 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Both types of down do a good job keeping you warm and repelling the elements.—
BestReviews,
Chicago Tribune,
1 Jan. 2026
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Ways To Prevent Mice Scents are good at repelling mice in the yard and around the house.—
Karen Brewer Grossman,
Southern Living,
28 Dec. 2025
Verb
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While there are dismemberments and other bits of gruesome violence to be found in the film, Badlands is largely aimed at endearing its audience rather than repulsing them.—
Richard Lawson,
HollywoodReporter,
4 Nov. 2025
Verb
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The driver of the car, identified as 36-year-old Amber O'Neal, was taken to the hospital and then booked into the Jefferson County Jail on unrelated, outstanding warrants for third-degree assault, vehicular eluding, and resisting arrest.—
Austen Erblat,
CBS News,
27 Jan. 2026
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More effective diplomacy, as demonstrated by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and French President Emmanuel Macron at the same forum, conveys the same message about resisting bullying through measured language that preserves dignity and institutional respect.—
George Skelton,
Los Angeles Times,
26 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The dogs had driven the woman into the surf before a tourist came to her rescue, beating off the dingoes.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
20 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Gibney illustrates that state of waiting, of staving off what at that time appears to be the inevitable, with the famous sequence from Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal, in which Max von Sydow’s medieval knight plays chess with Death on a desolate beach.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
25 Jan. 2026
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Snead and McVay renewed the contract terms with Stafford in late February, staving off would-be suitors in the Giants, Raiders and Steelers, and tweaked the roster some by adding run-stopping defensive tackle Poona Ford and All-Pro receiver Davante Adams.—
Jourdan Rodrigue,
New York Times,
24 Jan. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Fending (off).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fending%20%28off%29. Accessed 30 Jan. 2026.
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