avoid
/əˈvɔɪd/
Meaning
To try not to meet or communicate with (a person); to shun.
To keep away from; to keep clear of; to stay away from.
To try not to do something or to have something happen.
To make empty; to clear.
To make void, to annul; to refute (especially a contract).
To try not to meet or communicate with (a person); to shun.
To emit or throw out; to void.
To retire; to withdraw, depart, go away.
To become void or vacant.
To stay out of the way of (something harmful).
To defeat or evade; to invalidate.
To get rid of.
To leave, evacuate; to leave as empty, to withdraw or come away from.
To try not to do something or to have something happen.
To make empty; to clear.
To make void, to annul; to refute (especially a contract).
To try not to meet or communicate with (a person); to shun.
To emit or throw out; to void.
To retire; to withdraw, depart, go away.
To become void or vacant.
To stay out of the way of (something harmful).
To defeat or evade; to invalidate.
To get rid of.
To leave, evacuate; to leave as empty, to withdraw or come away from.
Examples
I avoided the slap easily.
One town was flooded from the storm, while the other town avoided the storm.
I try to avoid the company of gamblers.
What need a man foreſtall his date of griefe / And run to meet what he would moſt avoid?
He still hoped that he might be able to win some chiefs who remained neutral; and he carefully avoided every act which could goad them into open hostility.
Word Forms
avoids
avoiding
avoided
Etymology
From Middle English avoiden, from Anglo-Norman avoider, Old French esvuidier (“to empty out”), from es- + vuidier, from Vulgar Latin *vocitāre < Vulgar Latin *vocitum, ultimately related to Latin vacuus. Displaced native Old English forbūgan (literally “to bend away from”).