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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The men hunted a little farther, stopped to eat lunch, then decided to investigate a small hill before turning back to drag out their deer.—
Marguerite Reiss,
Outdoor Life,
9 Oct. 2025 -
Rangers look like turning back to Steven Gerrard, their title-winning manager in 2020-21, after the swift sacking of Russell Martin.—
Phil Hay,
New York Times,
9 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Steve Rubell, as a sort of publicity stunt, had started turning away celebrities in order to make the newspapers.—
Michael Schulman,
New Yorker,
12 Oct. 2025
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Coders are now turning away from many of the public expressions of interest in different languages (like Google searches and Stack Exchange queries), which have served as key metrics for the ranking since 2013.—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
9 Oct. 2025
Verb
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One raid saw masked federal agents repelling from Black Hawk helicopters and wrecking an apartment building.—
Christopher Cann,
USA Today,
9 Oct. 2025
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In the first episode, the recruits wasted no time in repelling from a helicopter hovering in the air.—
Raechal Shewfelt,
Entertainment Weekly,
26 Sep. 2025
Verb
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To Los Pleneros, the hub is an example of resisting colonialism through education.—
Gina Lee Castro,
jsonline.com,
14 Oct. 2025
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They were charged with assault and battery on a police officer, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and malicious destruction of property over $1,200.—
Adam Sabes,
FOXNews.com,
14 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The language used by American fans towards European players at Bethpage Black became a flashpoint during last weekend’s tournament, which Europe won 15-13 after staving off a dramatic US fightback on Sunday.—
George Ramsay,
CNN Money,
2 Oct. 2025
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His being here—scraping, sanding, painting, sitting across the table from us for dinner most nights—had been one of the joys of the past few weeks, a way of staving off the tension of moving and the sameness of the routine with the kids and the meals and the bedtime stories and all the rest.—
T. Coraghessan Boyle,
New Yorker,
14 Sep. 2025
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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 18 Oct. 2025.
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