FEND

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does fend mean? 

• FEND (verb)
  The verb FEND has 2 senses:

1. try to manage without help

2. withstand the force of something

  Familiarity information: FEND used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FEND (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they fend    ... he / she / it fends   
Past simple: fended   
Past participle: fended   
-ing form: fending   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Try to manage without help

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Context example:

The youngsters had to fend for themselves after their parents died

Hypernyms (to "fend" is one way to...):

contend; cope; deal; get by; grapple; make do; make out; manage (succeed in doing, achieving, or producing (something) with the limited or inadequate means available)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Sense 2

Meaning:

Withstand the force of something

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Synonyms:

fend; resist; stand

Context example:

The mountain climbers had to fend against the ice and snow

Hypernyms (to "fend" is one way to...):

defend; fight; fight back; fight down; oppose (fight against or resist strongly)

Verb group:

remain firm; stand (hold one's ground; maintain a position; be steadfast or upright)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

fender (a cushion-like device that reduces shock due to an impact)

fender (a barrier that surrounds the wheels of a vehicle to block splashing water or mud)

fender (a low metal guard to confine falling coals to a hearth)

fender (an inclined metal frame at the front of a locomotive to clear the track)

 Context examples 

Scientists believe magnetic fields can protect a planet, fending off the atmosphere-stripping blasts of the solar wind.

(The ice giant Uranus appears to be losing a bit of its atmosphere to space, NASA)

It also highlights the fact that physical activity during aging can continue to help fend off bone decay.

(Physical Activity Brings Lasting Bone Benefits, NIH, US)

This new moon is much better than last year’s, for that lunation was fending off strikes from Saturn and Pluto.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

His intuition told him it was the wrong thing to do, and he was glad that sheet and tiller kept his hands occupied and fended off temptation.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

While the telomeres of subordinate meerkats remained stable, dominant telomeres shrunk by a third in just 18 months – suggesting accelerated ageing caused by the toils of raising young and fending off rivals.

(Breeder meerkats age faster, but their subordinates still die younger, University of Cambridge)

The researchers selected for those microbial taxa that best survived on the plants, then showed that these "domesticated" microbial communities can fend off random microbes that land on the plants.

(How do you cultivate a healthy plant microbiome?, National Science Foundation)

It was an avalanche of fury that Johnson strove vainly to fend off.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

You can handle competition—indeed, your evolving success will feel exciting as you methodically grasp each goal, even the ones you have had to fend off others to achieve.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)