fending

Verb

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

1. (intransitive) To take care of oneself; to take responsibility for one's own well-being.
   • Mr. Howley. They are telling him how much they will increase the reimbursement for the total labor cost. The contractor is left to fend as he can.
   • Chairman Murphy. Obviously, he can’t fend for any more than the money he has coming in.1990, Messrs Howley and Murphy, quoted in U.S. House Subcommittee on Labor Standards, Oversight hearing on the Federal Service Contract Act, U.S. Government Printing Office, page 40
2. (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).
   • With fern beneath to fend the bitter cold.1697, Virgil, “The Third Book of the Georgics”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC

See all 4 meanings of fend