fend

fend
    v 1: try to manage without help; "The youngsters had to fend for
         themselves after their parents died"
    2: withstand the force of something; "The trees resisted her";
       "stand the test of time"; "The mountain climbers had to fend
       against the ice and snow" [syn: {resist}, {stand}, {fend}]
    

Fend \Fend\, n.
   A fiend. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
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Fend \Fend\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Fended}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Fending}.] [Abbrev. fr. defend.]
   To keep off; to prevent from entering or hitting; to ward
   off; to shut out; -- often with off; as, to fend off blows.
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         With fern beneath to fend the bitter cold. --Dryden.
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   {To fend off a boat} or {To fend off a vessel} (Naut.), to
      prevent its running against anything with too much
      violence.
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Fend \Fend\, v. i.
   To act on the defensive, or in opposition; to resist; to
   parry; to shift off.
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         The dexterous management of terms, and being able to
         fend . . . with them, passes for a great part of
         learning.                                --Locke.
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82 Moby Thesaurus words for "fend":
      anticipate, arm, armor, avert, bar, beat off, bless, block,
      bulwark, champion, check, cloak, compass about, copyright, counter,
      cover, cushion, debar, defend, deflect, deter, discourage,
      dishearten, divert, drive back, ensure, estop, exclude, fence,
      fend off, forbid, foreclose, forestall, get by, guarantee, guard,
      harbor, haven, help, hinder, hold at bay, hold off, insure, keep,
      keep at bay, keep from, keep from harm, keep off, make do,
      make out, make safe, nestle, obstruct, obviate, parry, patent,
      police, preclude, prevent, prohibit, protect, push back, put back,
      rebuff, register, repel, repulse, resist, ride shotgun for,
      rule out, safeguard, save, screen, secure, shelter, shield, shroud,
      stave off, stop, turn aside, underwrite, ward off