as in prevents
to keep from happening by taking action in advance
if we act quickly, we may still be able to head off disaster
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of heads off
Before then, William heads off solo to Brazil for a week around his innovative environmental awards, the Earthshot Prize.
—
Simon Perry, PEOPLE, 30 Oct. 2025
Penn State fans made that abundantly clear Saturday by arriving uncharacteristically late to the game and booing their heads off when the game ended.
—Alex Kirshner, New York Times, 12 Oct. 2025
Then, when the Patriots bulked up and played base personnel (four defensive backs), Smith threw it over their heads off play-action.
—Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 9 Sep. 2025
Dylan then heads off to Europe in October for a long run of shows across much of the continent.
—Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 9 Aug. 2025
After another commercial break, Flair chopped Chelsea time and again as fans wooed their heads off.
—Alfred Konuwa, Forbes.com, 8 Aug. 2025
Simon Perry, PEOPLE, 30 Oct. 2025
Penn State fans made that abundantly clear Saturday by arriving uncharacteristically late to the game and booing their heads off when the game ended.
—Alex Kirshner, New York Times, 12 Oct. 2025
Then, when the Patriots bulked up and played base personnel (four defensive backs), Smith threw it over their heads off play-action.
—Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 9 Sep. 2025
Dylan then heads off to Europe in October for a long run of shows across much of the continent.
—Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 9 Aug. 2025
After another commercial break, Flair chopped Chelsea time and again as fans wooed their heads off.
—Alfred Konuwa, Forbes.com, 8 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for heads off
Verb
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This adds another barrier that prevents criminals from initiating payments without your consent.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
4 Nov. 2025
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However, blocking only prevents future content from being scraped.—
Alex Reisner,
The Atlantic,
4 Nov. 2025
Verb
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The Corps project averts potential catastrophic flooding that could lay siege to about 475,000 residents, California and the nation, according to the government’s court documents.—
Ishani Desai,
Sacbee.com,
8 Nov. 2025
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Today’s agreement, struck on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea, averts another escalation of tensions between the world’s two great powers.—
Michael Schuman,
The Atlantic,
30 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Heads off.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/heads%20off. Accessed 14 Nov. 2025.
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