WARD OFF • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Ward off

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/wɔrd ɔf/ Listen

Ward off

verb

Prevent the occurrence of; prevent from happening. Synonyms: avert, avoid, debar, deflect, fend off, forefend, forfend, head off, obviate, stave off. "Head off a confrontation" , "Avert a strike"

Avert, turn away, or repel.

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Etymology of 'Ward off'

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"Ward off" Quotes from Famous Books

... circumference of the habitable Globe. His Royal Highness of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Consort of Her Sacred Majesty, laid the first stone on 17 Jan., 1842, in the Mayoralty of the Rt. Hon. John Pirie. Architect, William Tite, F.R.S. May God, our Preserver, ward off destruction from this building, and from the ...

— Gossip in the First Decade of Victoria's Reign • John Ashton

... imagination was lively, and his frame of body delicate, he was far from possessing that cool insensibility to danger which is the happy portion of men of stronger health, more firm nerves, and less acute sensibility. An indistinct idea of peril, which he could neither understand nor ward off, seemed to float before his eyes. He tried to think over the events of the preceding night, in hopes of discovering some means of explaining or vindicating his conduct for appearing among the mob, since it immediately occurred ...

— The Heart of Mid-Lothian, Complete, Illustrated • Sir Walter Scott

... so they obligingly leave a drinking vessel on the grave, that he may slake his thirst. Also they deposit spears and other weapons on the spot, together with a digging-stick, which is specially intended to ward off evil spirits who may be on the prowl.[195] The ghosts of the natives on the Maranoa river were also thirsty souls, so vessels full of water were sometimes suspended for their use over the grave.[196] A custom of lighting a fire on ...

— The Belief in Immortality and the Worship of the Dead, Volume I (of 3) • Sir James George Frazer

... seemed as if the Doctor's deprivation, which weighed heavily on his wife's mind, served to divert it from other trials, by the degree to which it was occupied in looking after her husband's changes of coats and boots, in order to ward off evil consequences to ...

— A Houseful of Girls • Sarah Tytler

... as the Prince waited for the appearance of the nine peafowl he galloped madly along the shore of the lake hoping in this way to ward off the strange sleep. But the moment the nine peafowl appeared in the sky he was so delighted that he drew rein and the treacherous serving man was able to slip up behind him and blow the magic bellows on his neck. So again he slept soundly while ...

— The Laughing Prince - Jugoslav Folk and Fairy Tales • Parker Fillmore

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