1. avoid(v = verb.communication) - stay clear from; keep away from; keep out of the way of someone or something; "Her former friends now avoid her"
Antonym: confront
Derived form noun avoidance1
Sample sentences:
Somebody ----s something; Somebody ----s somebody
2. avoid(v = verb.social) avert, debar, deflect, fend off, forefend, forfend, head off, obviate, stave off, ward off - prevent the occurrence of; prevent from happening; "Let's avoid a confrontation"; "head off a confrontation"; "avert a strike"
is one way to forbid, foreclose, forestall, preclude, prevent
Derived form adjective avoidable1
Sample sentences:
Somebody ----s something; Something ----s something
3. avoid(v = verb.social) - refrain from doing something; "She refrains from calling her therapist too often"; "He should avoid publishing his wife's memories"
Sample sentences:
Somebody ----s VERB-ing
4. avoid(v = verb.consumption) keep off - refrain from certain foods or beverages; "I keep off drugs"; "During Ramadan, Muslims avoid tobacco during the day"
is one way to abstain, desist, refrain
Sample sentences:
Somebody ----s something
5. avoid(v = verb.social) annul, invalidate, nullify, quash, void - declare invalid; "The contract was annulled"; "void a plea"
is one way to cancel, strike down
Sample sentences:
Somebody ----s something; Something ----s something
1. To empty. Wyclif. [1913 Webster]
2. To emit or throw out; to void; as, to avoid excretions. Sir T. Browne. [1913 Webster]
3. To quit or evacuate; to withdraw from. [1913 Webster]
"Six of us only stayed, and the rest avoided
the room." [1913 Webster]
4. To make void; to annul or vacate; to refute. [1913 Webster]
"How can these grants of the king's be avoided?" [1913 Webster]
5. To keep away from; to keep clear of; to endeavor no to meet; to shun; to abstain from; as, to avoid the company of gamesters. [1913 Webster]
"What need a man forestall his date of grief.
And run to meet what he would most avoid ?" [1913 Webster]
"He carefully avoided every act which could goad them into open hostility." [1913 Webster]
6. To get rid of. Shak. [1913 Webster]
7. To defeat or evade; to invalidate. Thus, in a replication, the plaintiff may deny the defendant's plea, or confess it, and avoid it by stating new matter. Blackstone. [1913 Webster]
"No man can pray from his heart to be kept from temptation, if the take no care of himself to avoid it." [1913 Webster]
"So Chanticleer, who never saw a fox,
Yet shunned him as a sailor shuns the rocks." [1913 Webster]
1. To retire; to withdraw. [1913 Webster]
"David avoided out of his presence." [1913 Webster]
2. To become void or vacant. Ayliffe. [1913 Webster]
avoid, v.tr.
1 keep away or refrain from (a thing, person, or action).
2 escape; evade.
3 Law a nullify (a decree or contract). b quash (a sentence).
Derivative:
avoidable adj. avoidably adv. avoidance n. avoider n.
Etymology:
AF avoider, OF evuider clear out, get quit of, f. vuide empty, VOID
VB be unwilling, nill, dislike, grudge, begrudge, not be able to find it in one's heart to, not have the stomach to, demur, stick at, scruple, stickle, hang fire, run rusty, recoil, shrink, swerve, hesitate, avoid, oppose, dissent, refuse.
VB abstain, refrain, spare, not attempt, not do, maintain the even tenor of one's way, eschew, keep from, let alone, have nothing to do with, keep aloof keep off, stand aloof, stand off, hold aloof, hold off, take no part in, have no hand in, avoid, shun, steer clear of, keep clear of, fight shy of, keep one's distance, keep at a respectful distance, keep out of the way, get out of the way, evade, elude, turn away from, set one's face against, deny oneself, shrink back, hang back, hold back, draw back, recoil, retire, flinch, blink, blench, shy, shirk, dodge, parry, make way for, give place to, beat a retreat, turn tail, turn one's back, take to one's heels, runaway, run for one's life, cut and run, be off like a shot, fly, flee, fly away, flee away, run away from, take flight, take to flight, desert, elope, make off, scamper off, sneak off, shuffle off, sheer off, break away, tear oneself away, slip away, slink away, steel away, make away from, scamper away from, sneak away from, shuffle away from, sheer away from, slip cable, part company, turn one's heel, sneak out of, play truant, give one the go by, give leg bail, take French leave, slope, decamp, flit, bolt, abscond, levant, skedaddle, absquatulat, cut one's stick, walk one's chalks, show a light pair of heels, make oneself scarce, escape, go away, abandon, reject, lead one a dance, lead one a pretty dance, throw off the scent, play at hide and seek, Adj, unsought, unattempted, avoiding, neutral, shy of, elusive, evasive, fugitive, runaway, shy, wild.
VB mislike misrelish, dislike, disrelish, mind, object to, have rather not, would rather not, prefer not to, not care for, have a dislike for, conceive a dislike to, entertain a dislike for, take a dislike to, have an aversion to, have an aversion for, have no taste for, have no stomach for, shun, avoid, eschew, withdraw from, shrink from, recoil from, not be able to bear, not be able to abide, not be able to endure, shrug the shoulders at, shudder at, turn up the nose at, look askance at, make a mouth, make a wry face, make a grimace, make faces, loathe, nauseate, abominate, detest, abhor, hate, take amiss, have enough of, wish away, unwish cause dislike, excite dislike, disincline, repel, sicken, make sick, render sick, turn one's stomach, nauseate, wamble, disgust, shock, stink in the nostrils, go against the grain, go against the stomach, stick in the throat, make one's blood run cold, pall.