forfend
[ fawr-fend ]
/ fɔrˈfɛnd /
verb (used with object)
RELATED WORDS
forestall, preclude, counteract, hinder, prevent, avert, prohibit, cease, deter, impede, exclude, obviate, thwart, forbid, restrict, hamper, halt, avoid, restrain, stop
Nearby words
Also forefend.
Origin of forfend
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for forfend
Is it not rather the blind brute instinct of self-protection, forfend what may?
Canada: the Empire of the North|Agnes C. LautOf all travelling companionship, forfend us from that of a married man!
And allowance must likewise be made for thy connubial grief which caused thee to forfend thy wife's body from the demon.
The Fantasy Fan January 1934|VariousForfend me from a man who weighs every expression with Scotch prudence.
The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin, Volume I (of II)|Charles Darwin
forfend
forefend
/ (fɔːˈfɛnd) /
verb (tr)
US to protect or secure
obsolete to prohibit or prevent
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
forfend
also forefend, late 14c., "to protect, prohibit; to avert, prevent," a hybrid from for- + fend, from Latin defendere "to ward off."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper