stave something/someone off
phrasal verb with stave verb uk/steɪv/ us/steɪv/ staved or stove
（通常指暂时地）挡住，阻止，避开;延缓
to stop something bad from happening, or to keep an unwanted situation or person away, usually temporarily
We were hoping to stave off these difficult decisions until September. 我们希望将这些难以抉择的事搁到9月份。