staving off
Keeping at bay
Staving off means keeping something unwanted at bay or delaying its arrival.
You stave off hunger with a snack, stave off boredom with a book, stave off creditors with partial payments.
The phrase suggests active resistance against something pressing in: She drank coffee to stave off sleep.
The past tense is staved off or stove off.
- preventingStopping before occurrence
- avertingPreventing by action
- circumventingAvoiding by going around
- delayingCausing later occurrence
- preemptingActing to prevent beforehand
forestalling · postponing · buying time · counteracting · deterring · holding back · alleviating · repelling · beating back · guarding · resisting · intercepting · shielding · halting · moderating · barricading · turning away · softening
- stallingstall, stalling, delay, hesitate, procrastinate
staving offwelcoming
Receiving others warmly
embracing · accepting · receiving · inviting · letting in
staving offbringing on
Causing to occur
hastening · accelerating · inducing · precipitating · speeding up
staving offallowing
Granting permission to proceed
permitting · letting in · accepting · admitting · tolerating
stave, staving, staved, staves, off, staff, staffs, staffed, staffing