stave off
verb
staved off; staving off; staves off
1
: to fend off
staving off creditors
2
: to ward off (something adverse) : forestall
trying to stave off disaster
Synonyms
Examples of stave off in a Sentence
managed to stave off the invaders
the quartermaster staved off a shortage by requisitioning more than enough supplies
Recent Examples on the Web
No Israeli effort to stave off an Iranian threat, much less defeat Hamas for good, can succeed without a strong humanitarian aid component.
—
Shira Efron, Foreign Affairs, 15 Apr. 2024
But Iran’s apparent efforts to stave off Israeli retaliation — by giving advance warning of its attacks, and making minimal use of its proxies — were no guarantee that a broader war would be avoided, analysts said.
—Matt Viser, Washington Post, 15 Apr. 2024
The emergency department gave her buprenorphine, which can stave off opioid withdrawal, and advised her to go to Denver Cares.
—Meg Wingerter, The Denver Post, 14 Apr. 2024
An appeals court lowered former President Trump’s bond by $279 million, staving off a financial crisis for him.
—Letters To The Editor, The Mercury News, 9 Apr. 2024
Inflammation in the brain has also been linked to diseases like dementia, making Silencil a great tool to help stave off diseases and conditions that are caused by inflammation.
—Michael Carroll, Discover Magazine, 3 Apr. 2024
Along with deleting TikTok off her phone, Merchant, sitting in a public park with a paperback novel, said she's embraced physical media like film photography and vinyl records in an effort to stave off a compulsion to doom scroll.
—Christopher Cann, USA TODAY, 21 Mar. 2024
Climate scientists have warned that emissions must drop sharply and quickly in order to stave off the most catastrophic impacts of climate change.
—Coral Davenport, New York Times, 20 Mar. 2024
But legislative text is not expected before Wednesday, teeing up a tight timeline to approve the legislation and stave off a partial government shutdown by a Friday night deadline.
—Kaia Hubbard, CBS News, 19 Mar. 2024
Shira Efron, Foreign Affairs, 15 Apr. 2024
But Iran’s apparent efforts to stave off Israeli retaliation — by giving advance warning of its attacks, and making minimal use of its proxies — were no guarantee that a broader war would be avoided, analysts said.
—Matt Viser, Washington Post, 15 Apr. 2024
The emergency department gave her buprenorphine, which can stave off opioid withdrawal, and advised her to go to Denver Cares.
—Meg Wingerter, The Denver Post, 14 Apr. 2024
An appeals court lowered former President Trump’s bond by $279 million, staving off a financial crisis for him.
—Letters To The Editor, The Mercury News, 9 Apr. 2024
Inflammation in the brain has also been linked to diseases like dementia, making Silencil a great tool to help stave off diseases and conditions that are caused by inflammation.
—Michael Carroll, Discover Magazine, 3 Apr. 2024
Along with deleting TikTok off her phone, Merchant, sitting in a public park with a paperback novel, said she's embraced physical media like film photography and vinyl records in an effort to stave off a compulsion to doom scroll.
—Christopher Cann, USA TODAY, 21 Mar. 2024
Climate scientists have warned that emissions must drop sharply and quickly in order to stave off the most catastrophic impacts of climate change.
—Coral Davenport, New York Times, 20 Mar. 2024
But legislative text is not expected before Wednesday, teeing up a tight timeline to approve the legislation and stave off a partial government shutdown by a Friday night deadline.
—Kaia Hubbard, CBS News, 19 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'stave off.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near stave off
Cite this Entry
“Stave off.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stave%20off. Accessed 20 Apr. 2024.
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