stave sth/sb off
— phrasal verb with stave uk/steɪv/us/steɪv/verb staved or stove
to stop something bad from happening, or to keep an unwanted situation or person away, usually temporarily:
We were hoping to stave off these difficult decisions until September.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Delaying and wasting time
- ado
- be on ice idiom
- bugger
- bugger about
- bugger sb about
- carry
- hold
- hold sb over
- hold sb/sth back
- hold sb/sth up
- hold up
- ice
- kick
- push
- retard
- retardation
- set sth/sb back
- shelve
- sit
- sit on sth
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