Yes. "Parry a blow" has a very similar meaning to "ward off". "To parry" is a verb that comes from fencing, sword fighting. To parry means to block, or fend off a thrust or attack, by your opponent. For instance: "he parried the blow by holding his sword vertically". "To ward off" means to prevent something happening; "Let's avoid a confrontation"; "head off a confrontation"; "avert a strike".

Yes. To parry a blow is to ward off the blow; to deflect the blow; to block the blow. Example: "Roger threw a punch at Steve, who was able to parry the blow." "They asked John a lot of questions. He answered some of them, but was able to parry the personal questions" = he was able to avoid answering the personal questions.