fend off

Its heavily armed guards fend off threats, especially from Lesotho gangs reputed to have more lethal firepower, he said.

Sidhu has also had to fend off scam calls from people pretending to have her dog and demanding the reward money.

This more robust economic model could help China fend off the kind of threats posed by Trump's return to power.

Boulter then showed real grit to fend off Yuan in a marathon fourth game before closing out the set against the world number 45 with her sixth ace of the match.

Given the political hegemony enjoyed by vast corporate interests and institutional leviathans like the military, how is it that they can no longer fend off shakedowns by hack politicians?