avoid
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
1synonym study For avoid
Other words for avoid
Opposites for avoid
Other words from avoid
- a·void·a·ble, adjective
- a·void·a·bly, adverb
- a·void·er, noun
- non·a·void·a·ble, adjective
- non·a·void·a·ble·ness, noun
- non·a·void·a·bly, adverb
- un·a·void·ing, adjective
Words that may be confused with avoid
Words Nearby avoid
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use avoid in a sentence
The executive wondered whether his employer could prevent him from taking the trip, or if he’d have to avoid returning to the office afterward.
33 states have instituted post-travel COVID quarantines—posing a dilemma for executives | Jeff | July 23, 2020 | FortuneI then made a line of small piles of ricotta stuffing, before folding over the pasta and squeezing out air pockets to avoid the raviolis bursting in the boiling water.
With food tourism in crisis, virtual pasta and paella courses take off | Bernhard Warner | July 18, 2020 | FortuneBecause of coronavirus fears, many people have switched to using credit cards and mobile payments to avoid handling money.
The state has released about 10,000 inmates early to avoid crowding because of the pandemic, and another 8,000 could be released by August.
California is facing a wildfire fighter shortage because prisoners are getting sick with COVID | Nicole Goodkind | July 15, 2020 | FortuneFor example, it can allow households to avoid home foreclosure, evictions and car repossession.
Bankruptcy Courts Ill-Prepared For Tsunami of People Going Broke From Coronavirus Shutdown | LGBTQ-Editor | July 12, 2020 | No Straight News
There are reasons that European countries tend to avoid fluoride.
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 | THE DAILY BEASTWe try to avoid going away for too long, so we can check back in.
Such statements are rare, as the Guards routinely avoid going public with news about the demise of one of their commanders.
What an Iranian Funeral Tells Us About the Wars in Iraq | IranWire | January 6, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTThe pilot asked air-traffic control for permission to climb from 32,000 to 38,000 feet to avoid the bad weather.
He had not estimated that if Jean Baptiste sought his wife secretly, it must have been because he wished to avoid him.
The Homesteader | Oscar MicheauxBut I always suspected it was a stratagem on his part to avoid playing, and that nothing really ailed him.
Music-Study in Germany | Amy FayBut it was my only chance then; or rather I had seen enough of business to avoid making mistakes when I could.
Ancestors | Gertrude AthertonShe stopped, and turned to face him, an incredible shyness seeming to cause her to avoid his gaze.
St. Martin's Summer | Rafael SabatiniHe ought not to be in London now—it is stifling—went up for some business meeting or other—seemed to wish to avoid details.
Ancestors | Gertrude Atherton
British Dictionary definitions for avoid
/ (əˈvɔɪd) /
to keep out of the way of
to refrain from doing
to prevent from happening: to avoid damage to machinery
law to make (a plea, contract, etc) void; invalidate; quash
obsolete to expel
obsolete to depart from
Origin of avoid
1Derived forms of avoid
- avoidable, adjective
- avoidably, adverb
- avoider, noun
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
Browse