stave off vs head off

stave off and head off both are verbs.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
stave off	No	No	Yes	No
head off	No	No	Yes	No

As verbs, stave off and head off are synonyms defined as:

stave off and head off: prevent the occurrence of; prevent from happening; to protect from or to keep away anything undesirable; to ward off

Other synonyms of stave off include avert, avoid, debar, deflect, fend off, forefend, forfend, obviate, ward off.

stave off (verb)	head off (verb)
prevent the occurrence of; prevent from happening; to protect from or to keep away anything undesirable; to ward off	prevent the occurrence of; prevent from happening; to protect from or to keep away anything undesirable; to ward off