Library / English Dictionary

AVOID

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Stay clear from; keep away from; keep out of the way of someone or something

Example:

Her former friends now avoid her

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "avoid"):

circumvent; dodge; duck; elude; evade; fudge; hedge; parry; put off; sidestep; skirt (avoid or try to avoid fulfilling, answering, or performing (duties, questions, or issues))

escape; miss (fail to experience)

escape; get away; get by; get off; get out (escape potentially unpleasant consequences; get away with a forbidden action)

bypass; get around; go around; short-circuit (avoid something unpleasant or laborious)

keep off; stay off (refrain from entering or walking onto)

shirk (avoid dealing with)

shy away from (avoid having to deal with some unpleasant task)

eschew; shun (avoid and stay away from deliberately; stay clear of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Antonym:

confront (deal with (something unpleasant) head on)

Derivation:

avoidance (deliberately avoiding; keeping away from or preventing from happening)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Refrain from certain foods or beverages

Example:

During Ramadan, Muslims avoid tobacco during the day

Synonyms:

avoid; keep off

Classified under:

Verbs of eating and drinking

Hypernyms (to "avoid" is one way to...):

abstain; desist; refrain (choose not to consume)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 3

Meaning:

Prevent the occurrence of; prevent from happening

Example:

avert a strike

Synonyms:

avert; avoid; debar; deflect; fend off; forefend; forfend; head off; obviate; stave off; ward off

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "avoid" is one way to...):

forbid; foreclose; forestall; preclude; prevent (keep from happening or arising; make impossible)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

avoidable (capable of being avoided or warded off)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Refrain from doing something

Example:

He should avoid publishing his wife's memories

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "avoid"):

fiddle; goldbrick; shirk; shrink from (avoid (one's assigned duties))

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s VERB-ing

Sense 5

Meaning:

Declare invalid

Example:

void a plea

Synonyms:

annul; avoid; invalidate; nullify; quash; void

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "avoid" is one way to...):

cancel; strike down (declare null and void; make ineffective)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "avoid"):

set aside (annul (a legal decision))

break (invalidate by judicial action)

stet (printing: cancel, as of a correction or deletion)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Credits

 Context examples: 

It was the Wild in him, the fear of hurt and of the trap, that had given rise to the panicky impulses to avoid contacts.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

He is a professional beggar, though in order to avoid the police regulations he pretends to a small trade in wax vestas.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Since Negook's inopportune visit, the Indians had avoided the cabin.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

You’d hardly expect them to avoid Wolf Larsen without my feet inside of them.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

It is a compliment which I never pay to any place if I can avoid it.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

Making it cheaper to do so could help the global community remove the 100 billion to 1 trillion tons of carbon necessary to avoid catastrophic global warming by mid-century.

(Scientists Turn CO2 into Solid Coal, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

You may live in fear of another attack and may avoid places where you have had an attack.

(Panic Disorder, NIH: National Institute of Mental Health)

This formulation solubilizes paclitaxel without the use of the solvent Cremophor, thereby permitting the administration of larger doses of paclitaxel while avoiding the toxic effects associated with Cremophor.

(Paclitaxel albumin-stabilized nanoparticle formulation, NCI Thesaurus)

By binding COUP-TF repressor and decreasing NF-kB Class I enhancer binding, E1A can repress MHC Class I gene transcription and allow tumor cells to avoid lysis by cytotoxic T lymphocytes.

(Oncogene E1A, NCI Thesaurus)

Active surveillance avoids problems that may be caused by treatments such as radiation or surgery.

(Patient Observation, NCI Dictionary)