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stave off
verb
- tr, adverb to avert or hold off (something undesirable or harmful), esp temporarily
to stave off hunger
Idioms and Phrases
Keep or hold away, repel, as in The Federal Reserve Board is determined to stave off inflation . This metaphoric expression transfers beating something off with a staff or stave to nonphysical repulsion. [c. 1600]Example Sentences
Flush with emotion after expressing some of that deep-set pain and perhaps trying to stave off a no-turning-back reality, Derek tries to convince his friend he feels better getting everything out.
Sprague’s spike landed on the baseline to stave off the first championship point, setting the stage for Jones’ heroics.
Carney has pledged to quickly begin new trade negotiations with Trump in an attempt to stave off US tariffs on Canadian auto exports set to kick in on 3 May.
Successive promotions from League One to the Premier League ended their 22-year exile from the top flight last summer, but they have been unable to stave off an immediate return to the Championship.
Bass said she’s hoping state relief can stave off those cuts.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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