avoid

[ uh-void ]

/ əˈvɔɪd /

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.

Nearby words

avodire, avogadro, avogadro's constant, avogadro's law, avogadro's number, avoid, avoid like the plague, avoidance, avoidance play, avoidant, avoidant personality

Origin of avoid

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

SYNONYMS FOR avoid

1 evade, elude, dodge.

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ANTONYMS FOR avoid

1 confront, face, encounter.

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Related forms

a·void·a·ble, adjectivea·void·a·bly, adverba·void·er, nounnon·a·void·a·ble, adjective

non·a·void·a·ble·ness, nounnon·a·void·a·bly, adverbun·a·void·ing, adjective

Can be confused

avoid 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.

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

/ (əˈvɔɪd) /

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 Forms

avoidable, 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