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Synonyms

give a wide berth

Idioms  

  1. Avoid, as in After Jane told on them, they gave her a wide berth. This expression alludes to giving a vessel enough room to swing at anchor so as to avoid a collision. [Mid-1800s]

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Give a wide berth to one thing, You're sure to fetch up soon on something else.

From The Complete Poems of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow by Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth

Give a wide berth to those who can do damage at a distance.

From Aesop's Fables; a new translation by Jones, V. S. Vernon

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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