[əˈvəːt], (Verb)

Definitions:
- turn away (one's eyes or thoughts)
(e.g: she averted her eyes while we made stilted conversation)

- prevent or ward off (an undesirable occurrence)
(e.g: talks failed to avert a rail strike)


Phrases:

Origin:
late Middle English (in the sense ‘divert or deter someone from a place or a course of action’): from Latin avertere, from ab- ‘from’ + vertere ‘to turn’; reinforced by Old French avertir