stave off — delay or prevent something bad or unwanted
to stop something unpleasant, harmful, or unwanted from happening for a period of time, usually by taking action to delay it, but not necessarily to stop it completely.
Say it like a native
Textbook She ate a snack to postpone the onset of hunger.
Native She had a snack to stave off the hunger.
'Stave off' is the idiomatic 'hold something bad at bay for a while'; the formal version is wordy.
Pattern: stave off + noun (usually something negative: illness, crisis, boredom, disaster, hunger, etc.)
In use
- Taking regular breaks can help stave off mental fatigue during long study sessions.health
- Many people exercise regularly to stave off health problems as they get older.IELTS speaking
Common mistake
✗ He drank coffee to stave off from sleep.
✓ He drank coffee to stave off sleep.
'Stave off' takes the object directly — no 'from'.
Common collocations
stave off + threat— hunger, boredom, a crisis, bankruptcy
Don't confuse it
'Stave off' is different from 'prevent' because it means to delay or keep something away for a time, not to stop it permanently. It is also more formal than 'put off' or 'hold off'.