fend Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. verb try to manage without help
    • The youngsters had to fend for themselves after their parents died
  2. verb withstand the force of something
    resist; stand.
    • The trees resisted her
    • stand the test of time
    • The mountain climbers had to fend against the ice and snow

WordNet

Fend noun
Definitions
  1. A fiend. Obs. Chaucer.
Fend transitive verb
Etymology
Abbrev. fr. defend.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Fended; present participle & verbal noun Fending
Definitions
  1. To keep off; to prevent from entering or hitting; to ward off; to shut out; -- often with off; as, to fend off blows.
    With fern beneath to fend the bitter cold. Dryden.
Fend intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To act on the defensive, or in opposition; to resist; to parry; to shift off.
    The dexterous management of terms, and being able to fend . . . with them, passes for a great part of learning. Locke.

Webster 1913