This expression means to keep something away. A stave is a stick of wood. In the early seventeenth century staves were used in bull-baiting, where dogs were set against bulls. If the dogs got a bull down, the bull's owner often tried to save him for another fight by driving the dogs off with a stave.

Übersetzung:

abwehren, aufschieben

Gegenteil(e)

The opposite of "to stave something off" is "to approach something".

Synonym(e):

You could also say: to hold off.