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stave off

verb

tr, adverb to avert or hold off (something undesirable or harmful), esp temporarily
to stave off hunger

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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]

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

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.

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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.

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Bass said she’s hoping state relief can stave off those cuts.

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In recent weeks, she and other city officials have been lobbying Gov. Gavin Newsom and the state legislature to provide a relief package that would stave off most or even all of those job cuts.

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Having a garage sale isn’t going to stave off economic doom.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

stave staves

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