Meaning & use
to fend for yourself
Last updated
UK/tə ˌfend fə jɔːˈself/
US/tə ˌfend fər jɔːrˈself/
Meaning
verbintransitive
to take care of yourself without help from anyone else
Grammar: Reflexive: fend for yourself/myself/himself, etc. No other object.
Patterns
- fend for yourself
- have to fend for yourself
- be left to fend for yourself
When she moved to London, she had to fend for herself for the first time.
The kittens were left to fend for themselves.
After his parents went away, he fended for himself for a week.
Common combinations
- have to fend for yourself
- At college, you have to fend for yourself.
- be left to fend for yourself
- The lost puppy was left to fend for itself.
- learn to fend for yourself
- Traveling alone taught her to fend for herself.
- able to fend for yourself
- By sixteen, he was able to fend for himself.
Synonyms and how they differ
- look after yourself
- Focuses on taking care of your health and needs; fend for yourself emphasizes having no help from others.
- stand on your own two feet
- More idiomatic and often about financial or emotional independence; fend for yourself is broader.
Opposites
depend on othersrely on someone
Commonly confused: to fend for yourself or defend yourself?
to fend for yourself vs defend yourself
Defend yourself means to protect yourself from attack; fend for yourself means to manage without help.
Practice
Which sentence is correct?
Choose one answer.
The idiom is reflexive and takes for: fend for herself. The other options use the wrong pronoun form or leave out for.
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