bear off

bear off (third-person singular simple present bears off, present participle bearing off, simple past bore off, past participle borne off)

1. To gain; to carry off, as a prize.
2. To restrain; to keep from approaching.
3. (nautical) To remove to a distance; to keep clear from rubbing against anything.

   to bear off a blow; to bear off a boat

4. (backgammon) To remove one of one's own checkers from the board. The first player to bear off all checkers is the winner.

• off-bear, offbear