avoid
[uh-void]
- to keep away from; keep clear of; shun: to avoid a person; to avoid taxes; to avoid danger.
- to prevent from happening: to avoid falling.
- Law. to make void or of no effect; invalidate.
- Obsolete. to empty; eject or expel.
Origin of avoid
Synonym study
1. 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.
Synonyms
See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com1. evade, elude, dodge.
Antonyms
1. confront, face, encounter.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for avoidable
Contemporary Examples
Adding guns to that often alcohol-fueled mix exponentially increases the potential for avoidable tragedy.
The way doctors are paid is one reason why avoidable procedures persist.
PSA Testing, Like a Lot of Other Procedures, May Do More Harm Than Good, Some Doctors ArgueCasey Schwartz, Clark Merrefield
May 26, 2012
Avoidable care is an issue the medical profession has been aware of for decades.
PSA Testing, Like a Lot of Other Procedures, May Do More Harm Than Good, Some Doctors ArgueCasey Schwartz, Clark Merrefield
May 26, 2012
Herman Cain: An unconventional candidate and campaign in the middle of a classic, yet avoidable, crisis.
But already, evidence is beginning to point to what appears to be an avoidable tragedy.
Historical Examples
Yes, I am a little oppressed just now with overwork, nor is this avoidable.
Hortus InclususJohn Ruskin
Do not pass between two persons who are talking together, if avoidable.
The Etiquette of To-dayEdith B. Ordway
Your orders are simply to make a reconnaissance and to run no avoidable risks.
The Boy Scouts on the TrailGeorge Durston
Divorce was bad; it was evil; it was avoidable in almost every case.
The HomesteaderOscar Micheaux
The unavoidable losses are few in number; the avoidable, many.
Health, Happiness, and LongevityLouis Philippe McCarty
avoid
- to keep out of the way of
- to refrain from doing
- to prevent from happeningto avoid damage to machinery
- law to make (a plea, contract, etc) void; invalidate; quash
- obsolete to expel
- obsolete to depart from
Word Origin
C14: from Anglo-French avoider, from Old French esvuidier, from vuidier to empty, void
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for avoidable
avoid
v.
c.1300, from Anglo-French avoider "to clear out, withdraw (oneself)," partially anglicized from Old French esvuidier "to empty out," from es- "out" (see ex-) + vuidier "to be empty," from voide "empty, vast, wide, hollow, waste" (see void (adj.)). Originally a law term; modern sense of "have nothing to do with" also was in Middle English and corresponds to Old French eviter with which it was perhaps confused. Meaning "escape, evade" first attested 1520s. Related: Avoided; avoiding.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper