Synonyms:
resist, stand, fend
Meaning: 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"
Synonyms:
fend
Meaning: try to manage without help; "The youngsters had to fend for themselves after their parents died"
Usage examples
'I see,' Noakes said; 'like taking a tonic in midwinter to fend off spring fever.
Each drive was attended by its own crew, who guarded the logs on either bank, launching those that shoaled on the numerous sandbars or in the shallows, keeping them from piling up in coves and in the mouths of estuaries, or creeks, some going ahead at the bends to fend off and break up any formation of the drifting timbers that promised to become a jam.