fend off
phrasal verb.to defend yourself against an attack or to stop someone from bothering you.
phrasal verb.to defend oneself against a physical attack, or to successfully resist unwanted questions, criticisms, or advances.
“The boxer managed to fend off his opponent's punches.”
“The politician had to fend off difficult questions from reporters during the press conference.”
“Despite the company's declining profits, the CEO managed to fend off a hostile takeover bid from their largest competitor.”
commonly used with physical attacks or metaphorical ones like questions and criticisms.
contrast with 'ward off', which often implies preventing something abstract like illness or bad luck, whereas 'fend off' implies an active struggle against a direct force.
the verb is transitive and takes a direct object without the preposition 'to'.
fend + off
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.