Idiom idiom
stave off
Meaning
To prevent something from happening; to obviate or avert.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“Drink water to stave off a headache.”
“She ate a healthy snack to stave off hunger until dinner time.”
“The government implemented new economic policies in a desperate attempt to stave off a total financial collapse.”
Anchors to
Last updated August 10, 2026