Adjacent Words

Avoid definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

AVOID', v.t. [Eng. side, void, widow; L. vidua, vito, evito. See Void.]
1. To shun; to keep at a distance from; that is, literally, to go or be wide from; as, to avoid the company of gamesters.
2. To shift off, or clear off; as, to avoid expense.
3. To quit; to evacuate; to shun by leaving; as, to avoid the house.
4. To escape; as, to avoid danger.
5. To emit or throw out; as, to avoid excretions. For this, void is now generally used.
6. To make void; to annul or vacate.
The grant cannot be avoided without injustice to the grantee.
7. In pleading, to set up some new matter or distinction, which shall avoid, that is, defeat or evade the allegation of the other party. Thus, in a replication, the plaintiff may deny the defendant's plea, or confess it, and avoid it by starting new matter.
AVOID', v.i. To retire; to withdraw.
David avoided out of his presence. 2 Samuel 18. [Improper.]
2. To become void, vacant or empty.
A benefice avoids by common law.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: stay clear from; keep away from; keep out of the way of someone or something; "Her former friends now avoid her" [ant: confront, face, face up]
2: prevent the occurrence of; prevent from happening; "Let's avoid a confrontation"; "head off a confrontation"; "avert a strike" [syn: debar, forefend, forfend, obviate, deflect, avert, head off, stave off, fend off, avoid, ward off]
3: refrain from doing something; "She refrains from calling her therapist too often"; "He should avoid publishing his wife's memories"
4: refrain from certain foods or beverages; "I keep off drugs"; "During Ramadan, Muslims avoid tobacco during the day" [syn: keep off, avoid]
5: declare invalid; "The contract was annulled"; "void a plea" [syn: invalidate, annul, quash, void, avoid, nullify] [ant: formalise, formalize, validate]

Merriam Webster's

transitive verb Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French avoider, alteration of Old French esvuider, from es- (from Latin ex-) + vuider to empty — more at void Date: 14th century 1. to make legally void ; annul <avoid a plea> 2. obsolete void, expel 3. a. to keep away from ; shun <have been avoiding me> b. to prevent the occurrence or effectiveness of <avoid further delays> c. to refrain from <avoid overeating> 4. archaic to depart or withdraw from ; leave Synonyms: see escape • avoidable adjective • avoidably adverb • avoider noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.tr. 1 keep away or refrain from (a thing, person, or action). 2 escape; evade. 3 Law a nullify (a decree or contract). b quash (a sentence). Derivatives: avoidable adj. avoidably adv. avoidance n. avoider n. Etymology: AF avoider, OF evuider clear out, get quit of, f. vuide empty, VOID

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Avoid A*void", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Avoided; p. pr. & vb. n. Avoiding.] [OF. esvuidier, es (L. ex) + vuidier, voidier, to empty. See Void, a.] 1. To empty. [Obs.] --Wyclif. 2. To emit or throw out; to void; as, to avoid excretions. [Obs.] --Sir T. Browne. 3. To quit or evacuate; to withdraw from. [Obs.] Six of us only stayed, and the rest avoided the room. --Bacon. 4. To make void; to annul or vacate; to refute. How can these grants of the king's be avoided? --Spenser. 5. To keep away from; to keep clear of; to endeavor no to meet; to shun; to abstain from; as, to avoid the company of gamesters. What need a man forestall his date of grief. And run to meet what he would most avoid ? --Milton. He carefully avoided every act which could goad them into open hostility. --Macaulay. 6. To get rid of. [Obs.] --Shak. 7. (Pleading) To defeat or evade; to invalidate. Thus, in a replication, the plaintiff may deny the defendant's plea, or confess it, and avoid it by stating new matter. --Blackstone. Syn: To escape; elude; evade; eschew. Usage: To Avoid, Shun. Avoid in its commonest sense means, to keep clear of, an extension of the meaning, to withdraw one's self from. It denotes care taken not to come near or in contact; as, to avoid certain persons or places. Shun is a stronger term, implying more prominently the idea of intention. The words may, however, in many cases be interchanged. No man can pray from his heart to be kept from temptation, if the take no care of himself to avoid it. --Mason. So Chanticleer, who never saw a fox, Yet shunned him as a sailor shuns the rocks. --Dryden.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Avoid A*void", v. i. 1. To retire; to withdraw. [Obs.] David avoided out of his presence. --1 Sam. xviii. 11. 2. (Law) To become void or vacant. [Obs.] --Ayliffe.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(avoids, avoiding, avoided) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. If you avoid something unpleasant that might happen, you take action in order to prevent it from happening. The pilots had to take emergency action to avoid a disaster... Women have to dress modestly, to avoid being harassed by the locals. VERB: V n, V -ing 2. If you avoid doing something, you choose not to do it, or you put yourself in a situation where you do not have to do it. By borrowing from dozens of banks, he managed to avoid giving any of them an overall picture of what he was up to... He was always careful to avoid embarrassment. VERB: V -ing, V n 3. If you avoid a person or thing, you keep away from them. When talking to someone, if you avoid the subject, you keep the conversation away from a particular topic. She eventually had to lock herself in the toilets to avoid him... VERB: V n 4. If a person or vehicle avoids someone or something, they change the direction they are moving in, so that they do not hit them. The driver had ample time to brake or swerve and avoid the woman. VERB: V n

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

a-void: Archaic use in 1Sa 18:11 for "escaped." In the Revised Version (British and American) of New Testament only in 2Co 8:20 stellomenoi (with negative), literally, "arranging that not," etc., i. e. by anticipation providing that something should not occur. In the King James Version for "turn away from," ekklinete: Ro 16:17; 1Ti 6:20; "refuse," paraitou, 2Ti 2:23; periistaso, Tit 3:9.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Shun (in a negative sense, or denoting care only without positive exertion), eschew, escape, elude, keep away from, keep aloof from, keep out of the way of, withdraw from keep clear of, be shy of, fight shy of, have nothing to do with. 2. Forbear, refrain from, help (after cannot).

Moby Thesaurus

abstain, abstain from, avert, be stuck-up, bilk, blench, blink, circumvent, cringe, debar, deflect, divert, do without, dodge, double, draw back, duck, elude, escape, eschew, evade, exclude, fade, fall back, fight shy of, flinch, forbear, forbid, forgo, give place to, hang back, hold aloof, hold aloof from, hold back, jib, keep aloof, keep away from, keep clear of, keep from, keep hands off, keep off, keep remote from, leave alone, let alone, let go by, make way for, never touch, not meddle with, not touch, obviate, pass up, preclude, prevent, prohibit, pull back, quail, recoil, reel back, refrain, refrain from, retreat, sheer off, shrink, shrink back, shun, shy, sidestep, spare, stand aloof, stand aloof from, start aside, start back, stay detached from, steer clear of, swerve, turn aside, turn away from, ward off, weasel, weasel out, wince, withhold