avoida‧void /əˈvɔɪd/ ●●● S2 W1 verb [transitive] 
Road safety is taught to young children to avoid road accidents. It is important to take measures to avoid the risk of fire.avoid doing something The refugees left to avoid getting bombed. Alan narrowly avoided an accident.2to stay away from someone or something, or not use something: Everyone seemed to be avoiding Nick. She carefully avoided his eyes (=did not look directly at his face). Pregnant women should avoid certain foods such as raw eggs. Why did you speak to him? You usually avoid him like the plague (=try hard to avoid him).3to deliberately not do something, especially something wrong, dangerous, or harmful: There are ways of legally avoiding taxes.avoid doing something You should avoid over-spending in the first half of the year.GRAMMARAvoid is followed by an -ing form, not an infinitive. You say: · They are able to avoid paying taxes. ✗Don’t say: They are able to avoid to pay taxes.Grammar guide ‒ VERBSTHESAURUSto avoid a person or placeavoid to deliberately not go near a person or place: · Why have you been avoiding me?· We avoided Park Street because of the traffic.stay away/keep away to avoid a person or place, especially a dangerous one: · She walked along the path, keeping well away from the edge of the cliff.· That man is trouble – I’d stay away from him.steer clear of somebody/something informal to avoid a person or place, because there could be problems if you do not: · I usually steer clear of the kitchen when Alan’s cooking.· I’d steer clear of Matthew if I were you.make a detour to avoid a place by travelling around it instead of through the centre: · We had to make a long detour because of the floods.to avoid doing somethingavoid to find a way of not doing something that you should do: · Some people will do anything to avoid work.get out of something to avoid doing something you should do or something you promised to do. Get out of is more common than avoid in everyday spoken English: · We promised we’d go – we can’t get out of it now.wriggle out of something (also wiggle out of something American English) to avoid doing something you should do by making up excuses – used to show disapproval: · He always seems to wriggle out of helping with the kids.evade formal to avoid doing something that legally or morally you should do – used especially about taxes or responsibilities: · It is an offence to evade taxes.· The US cannot evade its responsibility for the war.
WORD ORIGINavoid
Origin:
1300-1400 Old French esvuidier, from vuidier ‘to empty’VERB TABLE
avoid
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | avoid |
| he, she, it | avoids | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | avoided |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have avoided |
| he, she, it | has avoided | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had avoided |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will avoid |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have avoided |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am avoiding |
| he, she, it | is avoiding | |
| you, we, they | are avoiding | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was avoiding |
| you, we, they | were avoiding | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been avoiding |
| he, she, it | has been avoiding | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been avoiding |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be avoiding |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been avoiding |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Children quickly learn how to avoid punishment.
- Civilian casualties must be avoided at all costs.
- Do you think he's gone away to avoid talking to the police?
- Drivers are advised to avoid Elm Street today due to heavy traffic and long delays.
- Except when they were filming, the two actors avoided each other like the plague.
- Have you been avoiding me?
- I'm sure Sarah's been avoiding me recently.
- I had to swerve to avoid the truck.
- I managed to avoid the worst of the traffic.
- Import duties on some goods can be avoided if you know how.
- Penny jumped out of the way to avoid being hit by the falling branch.
- Police were anxious to avoid any ugly scenes when the two boys made their first appearance in court nine days ago.
- She's a good manager, because she never avoids dealing with the problems of her staff.
- The book is intended to help students avoid common errors.
- The company is anxious to avoid an expensive court case.
- The driver of the car said he tried to brake to avoid the accident, but it was already too late.
- Try to avoid subjects like sex or religion that might offend people.
- Typical politician! He just kept avoiding the question.
- We must, above all, avoid involvement in the war.
- We take every precaution to avoid accidents.
- But as they minded their church business, they could not avoid taking political stands as well.
- He avoids mentioning Home Office research that suggests that there is a relationship between deprivation and crime.
- Hoping to avoid delays and embarrassing publicity, in July the council started quietly pressuring Pike to disengage from the venture.
- I switched ends on the stretcher to avoid the stain from the piece of meat.
- Journalists now subject him to the scrutiny he avoided in his stealthy rise.
- To avoid any possible embarrassment the receptionist should show the lady to a seat in the lounge.
THESAURUSto avoid a person or place
to deliberately not go near a person or place: · Why have you been avoiding me?· We avoided Park Street because of the traffic.
to avoid a person or place, especially a dangerous one: · She walked along the path, keeping well away from the edge of the cliff.· That man is trouble – I’d stay away from him.
informal to avoid a person or place, because there could be problems if you do not: · I usually steer clear of the kitchen when Alan’s cooking.· I’d steer clear of Matthew if I were you.
to avoid a place by travelling around it instead of through the centre: · We had to make a long detour because of the floods.
to avoid doing something to find a way of not doing something that you should do: · Some people will do anything to avoid work.
to avoid doing something you should do or something you promised to do. Get out of is more common than avoid in everyday spoken English: · We promised we’d go – we can’t get out of it now.
(also wiggle out of something American English) to avoid doing something you should do by making up excuses – used to show disapproval: · He always seems to wriggle out of helping with the kids.
formal to avoid doing something that legally or morally you should do – used especially about taxes or responsibilities: · It is an offence to evade taxes.· The US cannot evade its responsibility for the war.
Longman Language Activatorto avoid something bad that could happen to you to make sure that something bad does not happen to you, either by doing something or by deliberately not doing something: · You can avoid a lot of problems if you use travellers' cheques.· The book is intended to help students avoid common errors.· The driver of the car said he tried to brake to avoid the accident, but it was already too late. · Police were anxious to avoid any ugly scenes when the two boys made their first appearance in court nine days ago.
also get round something British informal to find a way of avoiding a difficult or unpleasant situation, so that you do not have to deal with it: · There's no way of getting around it - you're going to have to tell her the truth.· If we can get round these difficulties, we'll be able to discuss the really important points.
: escape death/injury/punishment to avoid being killed, hurt, or punished: · Somehow he managed to escape serious injury.· Many young offenders escape punishment completely.narrowly escape something (=almost not escape): · The train ran out of control, and the passengers narrowly escaped death.
to avoid doing something that you should do · You can't go on avoiding your responsibilities forever.· Import duties on some goods can be avoided if you know how.avoid doing something · Do you think he's gone away to avoid talking to the police?· She's a good manager, because she never avoids dealing with the problems of her staff.· You may be able to avoid paying income tax on the money that you save.
informal to avoid doing something that you should do or that you have promised to do: · I was supposed to stay at home with my baby sister today, but I'll try to get out of it.get out of doing something: · He always manages to get out of paying for the drinks.
informal to avoid doing something that you have to do or have promised to do especially in a way that makes people not like or respect you: · It's illegal for these companies to duck out of their responsibilities by changing their names.duck out of doing something: · Miller has been widely criticized for trying to duck out on paying back the loans.
also weasel (your way) out of American to avoid doing something you should do by making up excuses: · He's somehow managed to wriggle out of watching the kids again.· Beth's trying to worm her way out of helping with the party.· You promised you'd take me, so don't try to weasel out of it.
also get round British: get around a law/rule/regulation etc to find a legal way of not obeying a law or rule that prevents you from doing what you want to do: · Isn't there any way of getting round these regulations?· He gets around the fire codes by claiming the building is a private club and not a business.
informal to avoid paying tax or obeying a law, in a way that is illegal or dishonest, or to avoid doing something that it is your duty to do: · Clever businessmen often manage to evade taxes.· Politicians have come up with many tricks to evade campaign spending limits.
informal to avoid paying something or doing something, especially in a dishonest way: · Through the help of powerful Senators, the firm has successfully dodged most federal environmental regulations.· During the Vietnam war, he moved to Canada to dodge the draft.
to keep away from a person or place to keep away from a person, because you do not want to talk to them, or keep away from a place, because there are problems there: · I'm sure Sarah's been avoiding me recently.· Drivers are advised to avoid Elm Street today due to heavy traffic and long delays.avoid somebody/something like the plague informal (=try very hard to avoid them): · Except when they were filming, the two actors avoided each other like the plague.
to not go near a person or place, because they may be dangerous or may cause problems: stay away/keep away from: · That evening he received a note warning him to stay away from the camp.· Keep away from my children, or I'll call the police.stay/keep well away (=completely avoid): · She walked along the path, keeping well away from the edge of the cliff.
also give somebody/something a wide berth informal to make an effort to avoid a person or place, because there could be serious problems if you do not: · We were told to steer clear of the main roads where we might be recognized.· She advised me to steer clear of Matthew - she said he couldn't be trusted.· Passersby gave the old man on the sidewalk a fairly wide berth.
to travel around a place instead of through the centre of it, especially to avoid a traffic problem: · We had to make a long detour because of the floods.
to avoid a difficult question or subject to not talk about a subject or not answer a question, because you do not want to cause embarrassment or problems for yourself: · Try to avoid subjects like sex or religion that might offend people.· Typical politician! He just kept avoiding the question.
to avoid a particular subject or a question because you are trying to hide something: · Steve evaded the question when I asked him why he had left work so early.· The best interviewers make it impossible for politicians to evade the questions.
someone who is evasive tries to avoid answering questions or explaining their plans, because they want to hide something: · When we asked him where his wife was, O'Hare suddenly became evasive.· All their questions were met with vague, evasive answers.
informal to avoid answering a question or talking about a subject, especially by talking about something else instead: · Once again the management dodged the issue of salary increases.· Even if you don't agree with him, you have to admit Senator Connors never ducks a question.· He sidestepped the question, and talked instead about plans for the future.
British /beat around the bush American to avoid talking about the most important detail of something and talk about other details instead, because you are embarrassed, not confident etc: · Don't beat about the bush - get to the point.· If you want to leave, just say so instead of beating around the bush.
to avoid a subject or problem, especially because you are afraid, embarrassed, or do not want to offend other people: · Parents often shy away from discussing sex with their children.
to avoid being hit or seen to move so that you do not hit something or get hit by it: · I had to swerve to avoid the truck.avoid doing something: · Penny jumped out of the way to avoid being hit by the falling branch.
to move quickly in order to avoid something dangerous that is moving towards you: · "Get out of the way!" he yelled, as the truck rolled down the hill.get out of the way of: · She had to run to the sidewalk to get out of the way of the car.
to move your head and the top part of your body down in order to avoid something: · I forgot to duck and hit my head on the branch.· Josie ducked and the vase smashed against the wall.
to avoid something or someone by moving sideways: · We had to run across some open ground, dodging the bullets.· He almost caught me, but I dodged and ran across the road.dodge behind/into/through: · When Kevin saw the soldiers, he dodged into an alley.
to make sure that something does not happen to make sure that something will not happen or cannot happen, especially something bad. Prevent is more formal than stop: · Many people now believe that a good diet can help to prevent cancer.· The new laws are designed to stop discrimination in the workplace.prevent/stop something (from) happening: · A special valve prevents the waste gases from escaping.· Stretch the rope out to stop it getting twisted and tangled up.
to do something to prevent something bad that may happen: · The company is anxious to avoid an expensive court case.· We take every precaution to avoid accidents.avoid something at all costs (=do everything possible to avoid something happening): · Civilian casualties must be avoided at all costs.
formal to do something to prevent something bad that will happen very soon if you do not do anything: · It may already be too late to avert another disaster.· Talks will be held today in a final attempt to avert strike action.
to do something to stop a difficult or unpleasant situation from developing, when it seems very likely to happen soon: · They agreed to meet government ministers in an attempt to head off a major conflict.· We managed to head off a financial crisis last year, but we may not be so lucky this year.
to carefully plan and think about what you can do in order to prevent something bad from happening: · The city council is taking emergency measures to guard against flooding in the city centre.· Use sunscreen on your skin to help guard against skin cancer.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY Alan narrowly avoided an accident. Why did you speak to him? You usually avoid him like the plague (=try hard to avoid him).COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES By flying low, the plane avoided detection by enemy radar. He gave me advice on how to avoid the pitfalls of the legal process.
Alan narrowly avoided an accident. Why did you speak to him? You usually avoid him like the plague (=try hard to avoid him).· I was anxious to avoid an argument.
· Try and avoid clichés.
· The prime minister wants to avoid a conflict over the issue.
· Doctors should explain their instructions to patients carefully, to avoid any confusion.
· She doesn’t give interviews and avoids contact with the media.
· So far, the scheme has avoided controversy.
· Young trees need protecting to prevent damage from the wind.
By flying low, the plane avoided detection by enemy radar.· We recommend you book early to avoid disappointment.
· This solution could help both countries avoid embarrassment.
· He resolved to learn from his mistakes and avoid similar errors in the future.
· She was anxious to avoid failure.
(=not look at someone)· I avoided his gaze and just looked out of the window.
· Many couples get married abroad to avoid the hassle and cost of a big wedding.
· Two workmen narrowly escaped injury when a wall collapsed.
(also dodge/duck an issue informal) (=avoid discussing an issue)· There is no point in evading the issue any longer.
· The defendant escaped liability by proving that he had taken all possible measures to avoid the accident.
· They both avoided mentioning John, though Anne longed to talk about him.
· State clearly what you expect, to avoid misunderstandings later on.
He gave me advice on how to avoid the pitfalls of the legal process.· He was lucky to escape prosecution.
· They wanted to settle the matter quietly in order to avoid bad publicity.
· The thieves managed to escape punishment.
(=not give a direct answer)· He had skilfully evaded Margie’s questions.
· They are anxious to avoid any risk of criticism.
(=not talk about it)· I knew he was trying to avoid the subject of drugs.· She hoped that Anna would keep off the subject of Luke for the next few hours.
· Avoid the temptation to cheat.
· I left early, hoping to miss the traffic.
(=prevent it from happening)· The owners could have done something to avert the tragedy.
· We avoid trouble by planning carefully.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB· He sped away with them still on amber, narrowly avoiding a car coming the other way.· And Chrysler narrowly avoided a major strike in August at its Detroit axle plant, another aging factory targeted for shutdown.· This was narrowly avoided by producing a new programming scheme, involving local sponsorship as the future funders of individual exhibitions.· It almost caused numerous accidents, here narrowly avoiding a head-on collision.· An assault on the office building angered the men in the yard and violence was narrowly avoided.· Two children in the car were rescued unhurt, and a woman inside the house narrowly avoided being hit by debris.
· Governments are constantly striving to create equality thus avoiding conflict and hardship such as this Court ruling has done.· In order to obtain better prices for their cotton, black businessmen sent it directly to Galveston, thus avoiding local middlemen.· They can thus avoid the costs of variety and added risk in a volatile market.· The system thus avoids the seemingly interminable delays that bedevil on-line services when they are used to transmit graphics.· He will thus avoid buying material before it can be used by accepting a small and defined risk of delaying production.
NOUN· Daak was moving again now, swinging wildly from side to side in an attempt to avoid the lasers' targeting.· Both meant consumers spent more in an attempt to avoid paying higher sales tax.· Beccaria's attempt to avoid considerations of responsibility and desert must be regarded as something of a failure.· But of course he had, and my clumsy attempt to avoid detection only served to make the retribution fiercer.· Beccaria's attempt to avoid the issue while retaining the conception of tree will was, perhaps, asking for trouble.· Read in studio Count Nikolai Tolstoy has failed in his attempt to avoid paying libel damages.· Meetings were still going on in Manchester in a last-minute attempt to avoid today's scheduled hearing in the High Court.· The huge variety of shapes is partly fashion and partly an attempt to avoid a phenomenon known as spin out.
· Distribution - Setting up agency agreements while avoiding possible conflicts of interest; drafting franchise agreements as an alternative distribution method.· Some of them stayed home to avoid the conflict, trauma, risk of public humiliation, personal injury, and death.· Governments are constantly striving to create equality thus avoiding conflict and hardship such as this Court ruling has done.· I hope my work on the evolution of cooperation helps the world avoid conflict.· Part of the art is to avoid creating a permanent conflict with a section of the community.· I was therefore a great deal more interested in avoiding conflict with Dad than I was in plumbing his psychology.· He talked proudly of how he avoided conflicts that he previously would have plunged into.
· Gusty winds are to be avoided at all costs.· Minimizing is the first technique a self-defeating organization uses to avoid responsibility for the costs of its counterproductive actions.· And what would those involved do differently if starting out now-or avoid at all costs?· In their eyes a reconciliation was to be avoided at all costs.· The longer intervals will also avoid the costs of unnecessary testing.· Gardeners occasionally regard shade as an evil to be avoided at all costs.
· So he made a go of permanently avoiding the issue.· They can avoid discussing the important issues by keeping us out of the debates.· Mr Kundera was strongly attacked for his view, and Mr Duroselle appears to be avoiding the issue.· But he was avoiding the real issue, and he knew it.· Beccaria's attempt to avoid the issue while retaining the conception of tree will was, perhaps, asking for trouble.· Instead, the agency now avoids guidelines on the issue altogether and simply states the lack of scientific evidence.· This is not just avoiding violence - it is simply avoiding the issue.· Rylander, whose re-election this year is opposed by Democrat Hector Uribe, avoided those issues.
· Useful to project news items, photos, diagrams, etc and avoids the need for photocopying.· The House vote effectively ends the matter for this session, avoiding the need for debate or votes in the Senate.· Door has special spring-loaded hinges avoiding the need for catches.· Money will be provided for one staff development day, avoiding the need to cancel classes for the training.· How to use negotiating skills to avoid the need to break contact.· First, the Esop can buy existing shares in the market, avoiding the need to issue new shares.· The analysis of price changes has the advantage of avoiding the need to define the sum invested.· Second, it avoids the need to use the future perfect tense.
· He explained that he had refrained from elaborating on his opponents' anti-constitutional activities in order to avoid tension.· In order to avoid booby-trapping ourselves, then, we must understand that drive is healthy only when married to desire.· The archbishop came back under papal orders to avoid giving offence to the king.· Atkinson believed that in order to avoid a similar disappointment with his new creation, he would have to leave the company.· He was prevented from doing so by a miracle, which he prefers not to describe in order to avoid being identified.
· I hope this will help you to avoid or alleviate the pitfalls of cold and winter skin.· You will also know how to avoid the special pitfalls and dangers implicit in being a hospital patient.· His reviews avoided the pitfalls of exotica and newness, drawing attention instead to the varied formal qualities of the writing.· In short, the start-up company receives not only funding, but valuable advice to help it avoid pitfalls.· But only if you know the market well enough to avoid the pitfalls.· By adopting this methodical approach you should avoid the pitfalls and successfully answer any questions set on this subject.· Precise verbal statements and descriptions avoid this pitfall.· Most TableCurve users will already have acquired the necessary good sense to avoid such pitfalls.
· It helps you understand other people's tasks, avoid problems and keep in mind that crucial overview I spoke of earlier.· To avoid the problem, the computer would have to refresh the phosphors on the screen much more often.· By careful drafting the drafter can avoid many of the problems associated with references to periods of time.· Clearly some forward planning in 1992 would have given him the opportunity to organise his affairs and avoid many of his problems.· Make his life as easy as possible when he first starts school to avoid the problem occurring in the first place.· And if I use humour to avoid your problem or make light of it, then I diminish its significance.· To avoid backlight exposure problems, they have been re-angled to appear against a darker background.· To avoid settlement problems at this location a surcharge embankment was constructed and monitored over a period of 8 months.
· If you enjoy an occasional drink this may do no harm but by cutting out drink altogether you avoid any possible risks.· Similarly, Y is the average value per injury avoided by reducing risk.· The operation will be strictly controlled to avoid any further risks.· Even a predator as powerful as a tiger wants to avoid risk of damage to itself.· Where possible, therefore, this is work to be avoided because of the risk of being seen as incompetent.· The duty in the law of negligence is not a duty to exercise reasonable care to avoid risk of causing injury.· If so, now is a good time to remove the safety-tab from the cassette to avoid the risk of accidental erasure.· Distillation at a lower temperature avoids the risk of thermal decomposition.
· A few books have avoided the trap.· John Champagne and Bob Guadiana avoided this trap.· During the next few months and years, we must avoid continuing in the trap that we were in before.· Anderson combines affection and horror in his version of the seventies while avoiding the trap of nostalgia.· To be fair to the tourists they appear to be avoiding that trap as the days trickle by before the Kandy Test.· Dole was clearly trying to avoid the trap in which former President Bush found himself after violating the tax vow.· Ronell avoids the trap by proceeding in ever-decreasing circles - or fractal geometry, as it is now known.· To avoid this trap, pick from the following list of ten top orders or invent your own.
· This can sometimes be avoided by the use of a newly developed stent exchanger.· Make certain that ideas are clearly delineated and most of all, avoid the use of professional jargon.· It is essential to avoid the use of jargon.· I have purposely avoided the use of technical terms.· One is usually wary of text books which avoid the use of calculus.· Deering also hit Roper with the strap and ordered him to avoid drug use and being friendly with blacks.· However, do avoid the use of slang or dialect expressions unless the context calls directly for such deviations from normal speech.· In addition to legally avoiding taxes through the use of loopholes, there is also the unsavory problem of illegal tax evasion.
· Thinking about women is a way of avoiding the thought of death - and yet women may be the end of you.· That way we may avoid the con-sequences of too-hasty action: global warming, unforeseen pollution, imbalances of supply and demand.· Accusing Alex had simply been a way of avoiding her own guilt and Anna's, bloody Anna's.· They say it is a way to avoid a closer look at the venture.· The only way to avoid that would be for the Chancellor of the Exchequer to give the health service an open-ended budget.· The best way to avoid message overloading is to provide separate areas for different programs and to make provisions for graceful failure.· Bombing, he asserted, was the way to avoid the unpleasant decision to send combat troops.
VERB· I hope this will help you to avoid or alleviate the pitfalls of cold and winter skin.· But if the guide helps corporations improve their writing, it could help investors avoid horror shows of their own.· It can help avoid expensive and protracted litigation.· Airline officials said the paperwork was to help passengers avoid $ 32 in taxes and fees.· It may take longer but it helps to avoid damage.· So he took measures after the season to help avoid injuries.· The new research should also help to avoid freezing and storing excess embryos, she says.· This is the how-to, practical guide that will help you avoid opportunistic detours and stay on track.
· They told him they had heard that the doctor had managed to avoid them all by driving into the lamp post.· I managed to avoid answering that question all afternoon.· We had managed to avoid the insupportable topic of war.· How should couples manage this testing to avoid unnecessary anxiety?· It can only be hoped that the newly aggressive financial players of the Thatcher era manage to avoid the same errors.· For the past two nights she had managed to avoid him.· As young men, they managed to avoid falling out over the tendentious terms of their father's will.· The truck passes, and like jet fighters at an air show, we somehow manage to avoid contact.
· In posing such a possibility Bukharin was of course seeking to avoid it.· Each player seeks weakness, predictability, and pattern in the others and seeks to avoid it in himself.· Nevertheless, it has become established as the only real alternative for organisations seeking to avoid or escape proprietary, single-vendor systems.· In each instance, you see a course of action that brings about the very consequences it sought to avoid.· So she had sought to avoid it, only to end up back where she had started.· Lydgate returns to Middlemarch, overjoyed now with what he once sought to avoid, a dependence upon Bulstrode.· Chalabi sought to avoid trouble with the White House.· These primary processes always seek pleasure and avoid pain, that is, they function according to the pleasure principle.
· She tried to avoid Bryony, which was difficult because she could not work out her routine.· Dole has repeatedly tried to avoid giving Democrats the opportunity for a straight vote on the wage.· Good racehorse trainers recognise this, and try to avoid their horses being beaten or having confrontations with riders.· I am therefore trying to avoid cutting and carving as much as possible.· He tried not to avoid any members of the committee, even if he thought they were going to vote no.· I try to avoid objects which limit a painting in space and time.· Many hospitals deliberately tried to avoid challenging or openly discouraging the parents' hopes and expectations for a perfect or near-perfect recovery.
· The Commission wants to avoid unjustified double taxation of boats, and will be making proposals accordingly.· The council wants to avoid complaints from shoppers who find some buskers a headache.· It was then that Rudolfo, if he wanted to avoid suspicion, would lead his flock down to the villa.· Second, Fed officials want to avoid a move that could turn out to be unneeded and slow the economy too much.· The form of canons is important, especially if we want to avoid brevity.· I explained that I wanted to avoid misquoting anyone.
· So they'd seem to be ideal for anyone wishing to avoid police cameras.· It is making it very difficult for those who wish to avoid the corruption to do so....· There are, however, shortcomings the collector will wish to avoid.· You may also wish to avoid gifts for the handyman.· The human being prefers to be directed, wishing to avoid responsibility.· Perhaps it's mountain snobbery to wish to avoid such a crowd, and if so then I am a mountain snob.· In his view, this produced better results because the companies wished to avoid their respectability being tarnished.· It may easily be objected that if he had wished to avoid becoming archbishop he had simply to refuse.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
- But do not fall into the trap of doing something I saw recently.
- Don't fall into the trap of comparing your wages and conditions with other volunteers and development workers.
- Duffy refuses to fall into the trap of spoon-feeding the material to passive students, which only increases their passivity.
- During the 90s Washington fell into the trap of allowing events to dictate the relationship, with increasingly destabilising results.
- Journalists can fall into the trap of being hypercritical.
- She was not going to fall into the trap of thinking she wanted Vitor as Vitor.
- So answer this question truthfully, lest your smart organization fall into the trap of continuing to outsmart itself.
- When we tie it to jobs, or to survival needs, we fall into the trap of mechanistic literacy.
WORD FAMILYnounavoidanceadjectiveavoidable ≠ unavoidableverbavoidadverbunavoidably
1to prevent something bad from happening: Road safety is taught to young children to avoid road accidents. It is important to take measures to avoid the risk of fire.avoid doing something The refugees left to avoid getting bombed. Alan narrowly avoided an accident.2to stay away from someone or something, or not use something: Everyone seemed to be avoiding Nick. She carefully avoided his eyes (=did not look directly at his face). Pregnant women should avoid certain foods such as raw eggs. Why did you speak to him? You usually avoid him like the plague (=try hard to avoid him).3to deliberately not do something, especially something wrong, dangerous, or harmful: There are ways of legally avoiding taxes.avoid doing something You should avoid over-spending in the first half of the year.GRAMMARAvoid is followed by an -ing form, not an infinitive. You say: · They are able to avoid paying taxes. ✗Don’t say: They are able to avoid to pay taxes.Grammar guide ‒ VERBSTHESAURUSto avoid a person or placeavoid to deliberately not go near a person or place: · Why have you been avoiding me?· We avoided Park Street because of the traffic.stay away/keep away to avoid a person or place, especially a dangerous one: · She walked along the path, keeping well away from the edge of the cliff.· That man is trouble – I’d stay away from him.steer clear of somebody/something informal to avoid a person or place, because there could be problems if you do not: · I usually steer clear of the kitchen when Alan’s cooking.· I’d steer clear of Matthew if I were you.make a detour to avoid a place by travelling around it instead of through the centre: · We had to make a long detour because of the floods.to avoid doing somethingavoid to find a way of not doing something that you should do: · Some people will do anything to avoid work.get out of something to avoid doing something you should do or something you promised to do. Get out of is more common than avoid in everyday spoken English: · We promised we’d go – we can’t get out of it now.wriggle out of something (also wiggle out of something American English) to avoid doing something you should do by making up excuses – used to show disapproval: · He always seems to wriggle out of helping with the kids.evade formal to avoid doing something that legally or morally you should do – used especially about taxes or responsibilities: · It is an offence to evade taxes.· The US cannot evade its responsibility for the war.