avoid
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avoid
elude; keep away from; shun
Not to be confused with:
ovoid – egg-shaped
avoid
elude, escape; shun; prevent from happening: Avoid a possible accident by crossing only on the green light.
Not to be confused with:
evade – dodge, fence, prevaricate; to escape from or get around by trickery: She tried to evade the rules. [Evade usually has a negative connotation. It means to elude by craft or slyness. Avoid means to succeed in keeping away from a dangerous or undesirable experience. In law, to avoid means to make void or of no effect; to invalidate. Tax avoidance, for example, could be legitimate, while tax evasion implies nonpayment of taxes, as through the failure to report taxable income.]
Abused, Confused, & Misused Words by Mary Embree Copyright © 2007, 2013 by Mary Embree
a·void
(ə-void′)tr.v. a·void·ed, a·void·ing, a·voids
1.
a. To stay clear of; go around or away from: swerve to avoid a pothole.
b. To take measures so as not to meet or see (someone): "He never let go of the idea that she lived out there in order to avoid him" (Elizabeth Benedict).
2. To prevent from happening: You can avoid illness with exercise and a balanced diet.
3.
a. To refrain from using, engaging in, or partaking of: avoid red meat; avoid risky behavior.
b. To refrain from (doing something): It was all we could do to avoid laughing at the remark.
4. Law To annul or make void; invalidate.
5. Obsolete To void or expel.
[Middle English avoiden, from Anglo-Norman avoider, to empty out, variant of Old French esvuidier : es-, out (from Latin ex-; see ex-) + vuidier, to empty (from voide, empty; see void).]
a·void′a·ble adj.
a·void′a·bly adv.
a·void′er n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
avoid
(əˈvɔɪd)vb (tr)
1. to keep out of the way of
2. to refrain from doing
3. to prevent from happening: to avoid damage to machinery.
4. (Law) law to make (a plea, contract, etc) void; invalidate; quash
5. obsolete to expel
6. obsolete to depart from
[C14: from Anglo-French avoider, from Old French esvuidier, from vuidier to empty, void]
aˈvoidable adj
aˈvoidably adv
aˈvoider n
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
a•void
(əˈvɔɪd)v.t.
1. to keep away from; keep clear of; shun: to avoid a person.
2. to prevent from happening: to avoid falling.
3. Law. to make void or of no effect; invalidate; annul.
a•void′a•ble, adj.
a•void′a•bly, adv.
a•void′ance, n.
a•void′er, n.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
avoid
If you avoid something, you take action to prevent it from happening to you.
We learned how to avoid a heart attack.
The bus swerved to avoid a collision.
If you avoid doing something, you make sure that you don't do it.
Thomas turned his head, trying to avoid breathing in the smoke.
You must avoid giving any unnecessary information.
Be Careful!
Don't say that you 'avoid to do' something.
Be Careful!
If you can't control or change the way you behave, don't say that you 'can't avoid' it. You say that you can't help it or that you can't help yourself.
It was so funny, I couldn't help laughing.
You know what his temper's like, he just can't help himself.
Be Careful!
If someone does not allow you to do what you want to do, don't say that they 'avoid' you doing it. You say that they prevent you from doing it.
I wanted to prevent him from speaking.
Collins COBUILD English Usage © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 2004, 2011, 2012
avoid
Past participle: avoided
Gerund: avoiding
| Imperative |
|---|
| avoid |
| avoid |
Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Switch to new thesaurus
| Verb | 1. |  avoid - stay clear from; keep away from; keep out of the way of someone or something; "Her former friends now avoid her"evade, hedge, sidestep, skirt, parry, fudge, circumvent, dodge, elude, duck, put off - avoid or try to avoid fulfilling, answering, or performing (duties, questions, or issues); "He dodged the issue"; "she skirted the problem"; "They tend to evade their responsibilities"; "he evaded the questions skillfully" get away, get by, escape, get off, get out - escape potentially unpleasant consequences; get away with a forbidden action; "She gets away with murder!"; "I couldn't get out from under these responsibilities" bypass, get around, short-circuit, go around - avoid something unpleasant or laborious; "You cannot bypass these rules!" stay off, keep off - refrain from entering or walking onto; "keep off the grass"; "stay off the premises" shirk - avoid dealing with; "She shirks her duties" shy away from - avoid having to deal with some unpleasant task; "I shy away from this task" |
| 2. |  avoid - prevent the occurrence of; prevent from happening; "Let's avoid a confrontation"; "head off a confrontation"; "avert a strike" | |
| 3. | avoid - refrain from doing something; "She refrains from calling her therapist too often"; "He should avoid publishing his wife's memories" fiddle, shirk, shrink from, goldbrick - avoid (one's assigned duties); "The derelict soldier shirked his duties" | |
| 4. |  avoid - refrain from certain foods or beverages; "I keep off drugs"; "During Ramadan, Muslims avoid tobacco during the day" | |
| 5. | avoid - declare invalid; "The contract was annulled"; "void a plea" strike down, cancel - declare null and void; make ineffective; "Cancel the election results"; "strike down a law" break - invalidate by judicial action; "The will was broken" stet - printing: cancel, as of a correction or deletion |
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
avoid
verb
1. prevent, stop, frustrate, hamper, foil, inhibit, head off, avert, thwart, intercept, hinder, obstruct, impede, ward off, stave off, forestall, defend against He had to take emergency action to avoid a disaster.
2. refrain from, bypass, dodge, eschew, escape, duck (out of) (informal), fight shy of, shirk from He managed to avoid giving them an idea of what he was up to.
3. elude, escape, ignore, hide from, keep away from, keep aloof from She had to lock herself in to avoid him.
elude find, face, approach, contact, invite, pursue, confront, seek out, face up to, solicit
elude find, face, approach, contact, invite, pursue, confront, seek out, face up to, solicit
4. keep away from, dodge, shun, evade, steer clear of, sidestep, circumvent, bypass, slip through the net, body-swerve (Scot.), give a wide berth to He had ample time to swerve and avoid the woman.
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002
avoid
verbTo keep away from:
Idioms: fight shy of, give a wide berth to, have no truck with, keep clear of.
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
تجنبيَتَجَنَّبيَتَجَنَّبُ
vyhnout sevyvarovat se
undgå
välttää
izbjegavati
elkerül
forîast
避ける免れる斎む
피하다
vitare
vengimasvengti
izvairīties
izogniti se
undvika
หลีกเลี่ยง
kaçınmaksakınmak
tránh
avoid
[əˈvɔɪd] VT [+ obstacle] → evitar, esquivar; [+ argument, question, subject] → evitar, eludir; [+ duty] → eludir; [+ danger] → salvarse deare you trying to avoid me? → ¿me estás evitando or esquivando?
I try to avoid him → procuro no tener nada que ver con él
he avoids all his friends → huye de todos sus amigos
this way we avoid London → por esta ruta evitamos pasar por Londres
to avoid sb's eye → esquivar la mirada de algn
to avoid tax (legally) → evitar pagar impuestos; (illegally) → defraudar al fisco
to avoid doing sth → evitar hacer algo
he managed to avoid (hitting) the tree → logró esquivar el árbol
I'm trying to avoid being seen by Jeremy → estoy intentando evitar que me vea Jeremy, estoy intentando que Jeremy no me vea
it's to be avoided like the plague → de esto hay que huir como de la peste
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005
avoid
[əˈvɔɪd] vt (= prevent) [+ disease, disaster] → éviter
to avoid doing sth → éviter de faire qch
Avoid going out on your own at night → Évite de sortir seul le soir.
to avoid doing sth → éviter de faire qch
Avoid going out on your own at night → Évite de sortir seul le soir.
(= manage not to hit) [+ car, obstacle] → éviter
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
avoid
vt → vermeiden; damage, accident also → verhüten; person → meiden, aus dem Weg gehen (+dat); obstacle → ausweichen (+dat); difficulty, duty, truth → umgehen; to avoid danger (in general) → die Gefahr meiden; (on a specific occasion) → der Gefahr (dat) → entgehen; in order to avoid being seen → um nicht gesehen zu werden; he’d do anything to avoid washing the dishes → er würde alles tun, um nur nicht abwaschen zu müssen; I’m not going if I can possibly avoid it → wenn es sich irgendwie vermeiden lässt, gehe ich nicht; … you can hardly avoid visiting them → … dann kommst du wohl kaum darum herum or kannst du es wohl schlecht vermeiden, sie zu besuchen; to avoid somebody’s eye → jds Blick (dat) → ausweichen, es vermeiden, jdn anzusehen; to avoid being noticed → möglichst unbemerkt bleiben
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007
avoid
[əˈvɔɪd] vt (obstacle) → scansare, schivare, evitare; (argument) → evitare; (danger) → sfuggire ato avoid doing sth → evitare di fare qc
try to avoid being seen → cerca di non farti vedere
are you trying to avoid me? → stai cercando di evitarmi?
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
avoid
(əˈvoid) verb to keep away from (a place, person or thing). He drove carefully to avoid the holes in the road; Avoid the subject of money.
aˈvoidance nounKernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
avoid
→ يَتَجَنَّبُ vyvarovat se undgå vermeiden αποφεύγω evitar välttää éviter izbjegavati evitare 避ける 피하다 vermijden unngå uniknąć evitar избегать undvika หลีกเลี่ยง kaçınmak tránh 避免Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009
avoid
v. evitar., esquirar; eludir.
English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012
avoid
vt evitar; You should avoid salt.. Debe evitar la sal.English-Spanish/Spanish-English Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.