By absorbing carbon dioxide the oceans actually help stave off climate change.
Well, that's one way to stave off passion.
Quinn lit the large stove to stave off the cold as rain pounded the metal roof above us.
And they went out to make a compact with the followers of the worldly Herod to kill Him, and so to stave off a religious revolution which might easily have been followed by political trouble.
Many businesses were forced to reopen, to stave off bankruptcy.