FEND

resist, stand, fend

(verb) 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”

fend

(verb) try to manage without help; “The youngsters had to fend for themselves after their parents died”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology 1

Verb

fend (third-person singular simple present fends, present participle fending, simple past and past participle fended)

(intransitive) To take care of oneself; to take responsibility for one's own well-being.

(rare, except as "fend for oneself") To defend, to take care of (typically construed with for); to block or push away (typically construed with off).

Noun

fend (uncountable)

(obsolete) Self-support; taking care of one's own well-being.

Etymology 2

Noun

fend (plural fends)

(UK dialectal) An enemy; fiend; the Devil.

Anagrams

• Fed'n, def'n, defn

Source: Wiktionary

Fend, n.

Definition: A fiend. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Fend, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Fended; p. pr. & vb. n. Fending.] Etym: [Abbrev. fr. defend.]

Definition: To keep off; to prevent from entering or hitting; to ward off; to shut out; -- often with off; as, to fend off blows. With fern beneath to fend the bitter cold. Dryden. To fend off a boat or vessel (Naut.), to prevent its running against anything with too much violence.

Fend, v. i.

Definition: To act on the defensive, or in opposition; to resist; to parry; to shift off. The dexterous management of terms, and being able to fend . . . with them, passes for a great part of learning. Locke.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition