fend

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“
We'll try not to smash the brig. We would be lost indeed if--fend off there, John; fend off, old reliable, if you care a pin for your salty hide.

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Definitions (18)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (4)

  1. transitive verb To ward off. Often used with off: fend off an attack.
  2. transitive verb Archaic To defend.
  3. intransitive verb To make an effort to resist: fend against the cold.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (9)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (3)

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Examples (50)

  • She had to turn to fend, she knew, but she could not without getting decapitated by the warrior! —  IMMORTALIS
  • You don't know how many of those mothers are widows or were left to fend for their families when their husband ran off. —  digg.com: Stories / Popular
  • Rio Tinto is trying to fend off a $150 billion takeover bid from bigger rival BHP Billiton, which is awaiting clearance from Australian and European regulators, due later this year, before formally launching an offer. —  Mineweb - Daily news headlines
  • To help more with the local Human society, Animals like little kids can not fend for themselves so it's up to each of us to take care of our pets and to step in and care for all animals … .. —  Giddy Tigers
  • More important, there is enough gas trapped under the tundra here to help the United States fend off an energy crisis that politicians have called one of the greatest threats to their country. —  Mudville Gazette
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Used in the same contextWord Family

fend:   fended ·  fending
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English fenden, short for defenden, to defend; see defend.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. from Middle English fenden, defend; abbreviation of defenden, defend, as fence of defense: see defend. Cf. fen.
  2. from fend, v.
 

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/fɛnd/
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