1
as in turning back
to drive back
managed to stave off the invaders
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in preventing
to keep from happening by taking action in advance
the quartermaster staved off a shortage by requisitioning more than enough supplies
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of staving off
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
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
And no longevity-claiming therapy is considered fruitful without sound research that confirms efficacy after following a diverse cohort of humans for decades to see if the therapy is associated with extended life or staving off chronic disease.
—Alexa Mikhail, Flow Space, 5 Sep. 2025
Mexico's move is intended to protect its domestic producers from these latest tariffs while preserving internal supplies and staving off downward price pressures.
—Hugh Cameron, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Aug. 2025
The film depicts a world where the Four are something like the Beatles, the Kennedys, the Curies, and the Brady Bunch all in one, a globe-bestriding celebrity family responsible for staving off supernatural threats and, seemingly, establishing world peace.
—Derek Robertson, The Washington Examiner, 8 Aug. 2025
George Ramsay, CNN Money, 2 Oct. 2025
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
And no longevity-claiming therapy is considered fruitful without sound research that confirms efficacy after following a diverse cohort of humans for decades to see if the therapy is associated with extended life or staving off chronic disease.
—Alexa Mikhail, Flow Space, 5 Sep. 2025
Mexico's move is intended to protect its domestic producers from these latest tariffs while preserving internal supplies and staving off downward price pressures.
—Hugh Cameron, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Aug. 2025
The film depicts a world where the Four are something like the Beatles, the Kennedys, the Curies, and the Brady Bunch all in one, a globe-bestriding celebrity family responsible for staving off supernatural threats and, seemingly, establishing world peace.
—Derek Robertson, The Washington Examiner, 8 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for staving off
Verb
-
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
-
Sump pumps are critical for preventing flooding in basements and crawl spaces.—
Brandee Gruener,
Southern Living,
17 Oct. 2025
-
The House proposals include sections aimed at preventing reductions in law-enforcement funding.—
Jim Turner,
Miami Herald,
17 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
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
-
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
-
Neither side showed urgency in averting the shutdown.—
New York Times,
New York Times,
1 Oct. 2025
-
Democrats, Republicans and administration officials left a meeting at the White House pointing fingers at each other and seemingly no closer to averting a government shutdown at the end of Tuesday.—
The Hill staff,
The Hill,
29 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
One raid saw masked federal agents repelling from Black Hawk helicopters and wrecking an apartment building.—
Christopher Cann,
USA Today,
9 Oct. 2025
-
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
-
On the day this particular video was filmed, Michael was heading off for one of the most gruelling shifts on his intensive schedule.—
Jack Beresford,
MSNBC Newsweek,
7 Oct. 2025
-
On Instagram, Kelly regularly shares snaps of her family life — including photos of her girls heading off to their first days of school last month.—
Tabitha Parent,
PEOPLE,
2 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
To Los Pleneros, the hub is an example of resisting colonialism through education.—
Gina Lee Castro,
jsonline.com,
14 Oct. 2025
-
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
Cite this Entry
“Staving off.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/staving%20off. Accessed 19 Oct. 2025.
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