Ward Off

Definition: Ward Off

Ward Off

Verb

1. Prevent the occurrence of; prevent from happening; "Let's avoid a confrontation"; "head off a confrontation"; "avert a strike".

2. Avert, turn away, or repel; "Ward off danger".

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Synonyms: Ward Off

Defense

Verb: defend, forfend, fend; shield, screen, shroud; engarrison; fend round; (circumscribe); fence, entrench, intrench; guard; (keep safe); guard against; take care of; (vigilance); bear harmless; fend off, keep off, ward off, beat off, beat back; hinder.

Hindrance

Keep off, stave off, ward off; obviate; avert, antevert; turn aside, draw off, prevent, forefend, nip in the bud; retard, slacken, check, let; counteract, countercheck; preclude, debar, foreclose, estop; inhibit; shackle; (restrain); restrict.

Crosswords: Ward Off

Did you cast a spell to ward off demonic parasites? (Charmed; writing credit: Colman deKay)

And they dressed up in costumes, hoping to ward off the evil spirits. (Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers; writing credit: Debra Hill; John Carpenter)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Books

• Tai Ahoms & the Stars: Three Ritual Texts to Ward Off Danger (reference)

  (more book examples)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Fisherman displaying fish caught in St. Paul Harbor. Umbrella hat frees hands for more important fishing tasks. Umbrella hat necessary to protect from frequent showers, not ward off the midnight sun. Apparently this fisherman did not consult the local weather forecast as a clear sky would indicate few showers . Credit: Fisheries.

A Malaysian bomoh prepares a herbal offering to ward off evil spirits. / WHO p. Credit: National Library of Medicine; photo by J. Dauth..

[Man and woman discussing ways to ward off cholera] / C.J. Traviés. Credit: National Library of Medicine.

Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

Health

The urinary system is structured in a way that helps ward off infection. (references)

Business

As a result, these consumers tend to turn to the use of nutritional supplements to ward off and reduce the incidence of minor ailments instead of paying the $10 price for a single prescription. (references)

Given that the cost to the consumer of NHS-subsidised prescriptions has risen from $5.60 to almost $10 between 1990 and 2000, preventative care, which includes taking nutritional supplements to ward off illness, has become a less expensive alternative to prescription drugs for many consumers. (references)

Economic History

India

The Companies (Amendment) Ordinance of 1999 permits companies to buy back their shares in the market to ward off hostile attacks and make inter-corporate investments. (references)

Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Albanian

shmang (avert, avoid, bypass, deflect, elude, evade, fend off, help, obviate, shun), mënjanoj (avert, avoid, deflect, depart, eliminate, elude, leave out, move aside, remove, save, shunt, stave off, store, store up, suspend, thrift, translocate, turn aside, uncurtain). (various references)

Arabic 

‏منع (averting, ban, banning, bar, barring, block, debar, deny, deprive, deter, estop, exclude, forbade, forbid, forbiddance, forbidding, foreclose, hinder, hindering, hold back, immunize, inhibit, interdict, interdiction, keep from, obstruct, obstruction, obviation, preclude, prevent, preventing, prevention, prohibit, prohibition, proscription, restrain from, stop, taboo, veto, withhold), ‏صد (alienation, baffle, balk, baulk, bear down, beat, beat off, blast, estop, estoppel, exclusion, fend, fend off, fight off, hit, hit back, hold off, jolt, kick, negative, parry, poach, push, push aside, push back, quash, rebuff, repel, repudiate, repulse, repulsion, return, riposte, snub, spurn, stamp down, stave, stay, stay away, stem, throwback, toss, turn away, ward). (various references)

Chinese 

捍 . (various references)

Czech

předejít (anticipate, forestall, preclude, prevent, stop), odvrátit (avert, divert, foil, head off, keep off, stave off, stem, turn), odrazit (beat, beat off, fend, fend off, fight off, force back, hold off, intercept, push off, rebut, repel, repulse, return, ricochet, shove off, strike back, throw back). (various references)

Dutch

schuilen voor (protect from), afweren (parry, protect from). (various references)

Esperanto

forklini (parry), ŝirmi sin kontraŭ (protect from). (various references)

Finnish

väistää (avoid, dodge, duck, evade, fend off, give way, parry), torjua (avert, destroy, reject, repress, tend off). (various references)

French

se mettre � l'abri de, s'abriter, parer (ward). (various references)

Frisian

ôfwarre (protect from). (various references)

German

nicht aufkommen lassen, abwenden (avert, head off, turn aside, turn away), abwehren (avert, beat off, clear, discourage, dismiss, fend, fend off, field, fight off, hold off, keep away, make a save, parry, protect against, repel, repulse, stave off, to fend, to parry, to stave off). (various references)

Greek 

απομακρύνω (alienate, dissociate, fend, oust, remove, stave off, take off, turn away). (various references)

Hebrew 

למ� וע (avert, deny, deprive, forestall, head off, hinder, inhibit, keep back, preclude, prevent, refuse, stop, withhold), ל�"שיב אחור� ית, ל�"�"וף (bear down, beat off, blast, fend off, fight off, hold off, jolt, push, repel, repulse, shove, stave off). (various references)

Hungarian

elhárít (avert, fend off, Parry, repel, stave off, to avert, to decline, to disclaim, to fence, to fence off, to fend off, to head off, to hold off, to keep off, to obviate, to stave off, to tide over, to turn away, to ward off, turn aside). (various references)

Indonesian

menangkis (parry, rebut, repel, repulse). (various references)

Italian

respingere (beat off, disallow, dismiss, fail, kill, push away, quash, reduce, reduce the price, refuse, reject, repel, repudiate, repulse, return, set aside, shove, spurn, stave off), parare (adorn, decorate, Parry, shield). (various references)

Japanese Kanji 

鍾き (god to ward off illness and misfortune), 薬食い (winter-time practice of eating meat of animals such as boar and deer to ward off cold), 避ける (to avert, to avoid, to ward off), 払い除ける (to brush away, to drive away, to fling off, to ward off), 受け流す (to elude, to turn aside, to ward off). (various references)

Japanese Katakana 

くすりぐい (winter-time practice of eating meat of animals such as boar and deer to ward off cold), しょうき (affectation, business opportunity, consciousness, desire to be impressive, god to ward off illness and misfortune, laughing gas, marsh gas, methane, minute description, nitrous oxide, person of small capacities, sanity, small container, soberness, true character, true heart, true spirit), さける (to avert, to avoid, to burst, to split, to tear, to ward off), うけながす (to elude, to turn aside, to ward off), よける (to avert, to avoid, to ward off), はらいのける (to brush away, to drive away, to fling off, to ward off). (various references)

Pig Latin

ardway offay

Portuguese

repelir (abrogate, beat off, fight off, foil, put back, rebuff, refuse, reject, repel, repudiate, repulse, resist, stave off), desviar (avert, deflect, depart, detour, deviate, digress, diverge, divert, err, fend, foil, head off, parry, shunt, swerve), aparar (clip, detruncate, lop, mow, nib, pare, pare down, prune, skive, trim, whittle). (various references)

Romanian

îndepãrta (avert, carry off, cast, chase away, clean, clear, cut out, discard, dismiss, drive away, eliminate, estrange, fence off, lay, move away, remove, retire, withdraw). (various references)

Russian 

отражать (be representative of, beat back, beat off, fend, fend off, mirror, parry, reflect, reverberate, typify, warded). (various references)

Serbo-Croatian

odbiti (cast aside, counter, decline, deduct, deny, disallow, dock, drive back, fend off, fight off, keep off, knock off, overrule, parry, rebuff, reflect, refuse, reject, repel, repudiate, repulse, stave off, strike up, throw back, turn away, turn back, turn down, wean). (various references)

Spanish

repeler (protect from, refuse, repel). (various references)

Swedish

skydda sig mot, avvärja (avert, fend, fend off, field, Parry, placate, stave off). (various references)

Turkish

savuşturmak (avoid, beat off, evade, fend off, get rid of, Parry, turn off), atlatmak (beat smb. to it, bypass, circumvent, come through, dish, dodge, escape, get over, give smb. the slip, jump, let down, outride, outwit, overcome, Parry, pull through, put off, shake, skip, slip, stall off, take, throw off, tide over, turn), önlemek (arrest, avert, avoid, baffle, bank, circumvent, counterwork, estop, face up to, foil, foreclose, forestall, frustrate, get under control, head off, intercept, jugulate, keep back, obviate, occlude, preclude, prevent, prevent from, prohibit, repress, stay, suppress, thwart, ward). (various references)

Ukrainian

відгороджувати (rail). (various references)

defendere, defendo, deprecatio, deprecationem, deprecationis, deprecationum, exceperint, exceperunt, excepi, excepistis, excepit, excepta, exceptis, excepto, exceptoria, exceptus, excipe, excipere, excipiens, excipientes, excipies, excipiet, excipite. (various references)

abaedan. (various references)

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

-1 letter: afford.

-2 letters: draff, dwarf.

-3 letters: daff, doff, draw, fado, fard, faro, fora, ford, frow, orad, raff, road, waff, ward, woad, word.

-4 letters: ado, aff, arf, daw, dor, dow, fad, far, for, fro, oaf, oar, off, ora, rad, raw, rod, row, wad, war.

-5 letters: ad, ar, aw, do, fa, od, of, or, ow, wo.