avoid

American  

[uh-void] / əˈvɔɪd /

verb (used with object)

• avoids,
  present (3rd person singular)
• avoided,
  past participle,  past
• avoiding
  present participle

1. to keep away from; keep clear of; shun.

   to avoid a person;

   to avoid taxes;

   to avoid danger.

   Synonyms:

   dodge, elude, evade

   Antonyms:

   encounter, face, confront

2. to prevent from happening.

   to avoid falling.

3. Law. to make void or of no effect; invalidate.

4. Obsolete. to empty; eject or expel.

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avoid British  

/ əˈvɔɪd /

verb

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 to make (a plea, contract, etc) void; invalidate; quash

5. obsolete to expel

6. obsolete to depart from

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Synonym Usage

Avoid, escape mean to come through a potentially harmful or unpleasant experience, without suffering serious consequences. To avoid is to succeed in keeping away from something dangerous or undesirable: to avoid meeting an enemy. Escape suggests encountering peril but coming through it safely: to escape drowning.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• avoider
  noun
• nonavoidableness
  noun
• avoidable
  adjective
• nonavoidable
  adjective
• unavoiding
  adjective
• avoidably
  adverb
• nonavoidably
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Participles

• avoiding
  present
• avoided
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• avoid
  simple
• avoids
  simple
• have avoided
  perfect
• has avoided
  perfect
• am avoiding
  progressive
• are avoiding
  progressive
• is avoiding
  progressive
• have been avoiding
  perfect progressive
• has been avoiding
  perfect progressive

Past

• avoided
  simple
• had avoided
  perfect
• was avoiding
  progressive
• were avoiding
  progressive
• had been avoiding
  perfect progressive

Future

• will avoid
  simple
• will have avoided
  perfect
• will be avoiding
  progressive
• will have been avoiding
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of avoid

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English avoiden, from Anglo-French avoider, equivalent to a- ⁴ ( def. ) + void ( def. )

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Explanation

If you avoid drinking coffee right before bed because it tends to keep you awake and makes you jittery, that means that you stay away from coffee at night. The verb avoid means to stop yourself from doing something or to keep something from happening. You might avoid the old lady next door who smells funny and always wants to pinch your cheek, or you could avoid a certain dangerous neighborhood in your city by taking a different route when you're walking home. It's easy to get avoid confused with a similar word, evade, which means "to avoid in a particularly tricky or sneaky way."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

avoid avoids avoided avoiding

There are large challenges that neither party can avoid.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 10, 2026

European members of the G7 had pressed Rubio at the meeting of foreign ministers of the group in Paris to avoid any new escalation against Iran.

From Barron's ● Nov. 10, 2026

Even so, “I don’t think there’s much ability for us to avoid this being the most expensive Thanksgiving on record” for gas prices, he told MarketWatch.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 9, 2026

Prosecutors previously told the court they could be ready for trial by October 2027 but were willing to move that date back to January 2028 to avoid the holiday period.

From BBC ● Nov. 9, 2026

I do damage control on my cookies and cream, licking around the circumference of the cone to avoid getting sticky, but it’s no use.

From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller

"By replacing electricity that would otherwise come from fossil fuel-fired power plants, this output avoids 185,936 tonnes of carbon emissions each year," operator Sanko Enerji says.

From Barron's ● Nov. 5, 2026

This avoids the possibility of one person feeling overextended while the other person becomes resentful about compromising their lifestyle.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 3, 2026

Asked during Thursday's news conference how he deals with the 'noise' from former team-mates and ex-players, Carrick said he avoids it as best he can.

From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2026

He loves America and capitalism as much as he avoids their showboating critics.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026

And Father avoids all conversations haying to do with Mother.

From "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank

"All incidents can be avoided, but the question is, are we ready to invest to make it happen? Cybersecurity is not cheap," he said, calling on manufacturers to make products that are secure "by design".

From Barron's ● Nov. 10, 2026

But it’s also because the AI trade is facing some stiff headwinds that heretofore it had largely avoided.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 10, 2026

"Although a mistrial may be expensive in both human and monetary costs, it is not to be avoided by intrusion into the jury's domain," he wrote.

From BBC ● Nov. 9, 2026

The U.S. has avoided sanctioning other Chinese banks for Iran ties, despite concerns that several were involved in transactions with the country, former U.S. officials said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2026

He had avoided dwelling too much on Amanda, even while waiting for rescuers.

From "Abel's Island" by William Steig

But avoiding the issue will not make it go away.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 9, 2026

This suggests that generating CAR NK cells directly inside the body could offer similar cancer-fighting capabilities while avoiding the complicated manufacturing process required by conventional cell therapies.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 8, 2026

He described Mathewson's system of avoiding parents bumping into each other at the same time as being like a "military operation".

From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026

And they’ve done it by avoiding college football’s priciest free agents almost entirely.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2026

He looked at the ground, avoiding his father’s face.

From "Healer of the Water Monster" by Brian Young

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Related Words

• avert
• bypass
• dodge
• escape
• evade
• fend off
• shun
• sidestep

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