avoid

[uh-void]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR avoid ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

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

1250–30; Middle English avoiden < Anglo-French avoider, equivalent to a- a-⁴ + voider to void

Related formsa·void·a·ble, adjectivea·void·a·bly, adverba·void·er, nounnon·a·void·a·ble, adjectivenon·a·void·a·ble·ness, nounnon·a·void·a·bly, adverbun·a·void·ing, adjective

Can be confusedavoid evadeavoid ovoid

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 for avoid

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR avoid ON THESAURUS.COM

1. evade, elude, dodge.

Antonyms for avoid

1. confront, face, encounter.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for avoid

There are reasons that European countries tend to avoid fluoride.
Anti-Fluoriders Are The OG Anti-Vaxxers|Michael Schulson|July 27, 2016|DAILY BEAST
It is also important to avoid using the pope as part of a marketing strategy.
Pope Francis Has the Pleasure of Meeting Angelina Jolie for a Few Seconds|Barbie Latza Nadeau|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
We try to avoid going away for too long, so we can check back in.
Belle & Sebastian Aren’t So Shy Anymore|James Joiner|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The pilot asked air-traffic control for permission to climb from 32,000 to 38,000 feet to avoid the bad weather.
Wreckage, Bodies of AirAsia Crash Found|Lennox Samuels|December 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST

As a result, many plants and animals have evolved innovative ways to avoid inbreeding.
Mongooses, Meerkats, and Ants, Oh My! Why Some Animals Keep Mating All in the Family|Helen Thompson|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Halting a few paces away, Tracy motioned to us to avoid moving the bushes, but to approach the fence and look between the rails.
Military Reminiscences of the Civil War V2|Jacob Dolson Cox
If you desire to avoid observation you can remain here until it grows darker, and then you can walk up to the mansion.
A Bicycle of Cathay|Frank R. Stockton
Well get away at once, as nothing is to be gained by a stay in Nome and as, furthermore, we wish to avoid inquiries into our aims.
The Radio Boys Rescue the Lost Alaska Expedition|Gerald Breckenridge
You ought to avoid entirely such a procedure in this last class of cases; for it is an abuse of the genuine purpose of Dialectic.
Aristotle|George Grote
The breach was apparently healed, but rather to avoid a scandal than from sincere forgiveness.
The Life of Napoleon Bonaparte|William Milligan Sloane

British Dictionary definitions for avoid

avoid

verb (tr)

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

Derived Formsavoidable, adjectiveavoidably, adverbavoider, noun

Word Origin for avoid

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 Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for avoid

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.

avoid

verb (used with object)

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED WORDS

Origin of avoid

Synonym study

Synonyms for avoid

Antonyms for avoid

Examples from the Web for avoid

avoid

verb (tr)

Word Origin for avoid