head off phrasal verbphr v a) LEAVE A PLACEto leave to go to another place 离开〔某地去别处〕 I’m heading off now. 我现在要走了。
b) head something ↔ offPREVENT to prevent something from happening, especially something bad 阻止某事,防止某事发生 The president intervened to head off the conflict. 总统出面调停以阻止冲突发生。
c) head somebody ↔ offSTOP MOVING to stop someone going somewhere by moving in front of them 〔在前面〕拦截某人,拦挡某人 Soldiers headed them off at the border. 士兵在边境将他们拦截住。
head off• We managed to head off a financial crisis last year, but we may not be so lucky this year.• They agreed to meet government ministers in an attempt to head off a major conflict.
→ head off at head2(2)