Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Fending"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Fend \Fend\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Fended}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Fending}.] [Abbrev. fr. defend.]
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.
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