avoid

elude; keep away from; shun
Not to be confused with:ovoid – egg-shaped

avoid

elude, escape; shun; prevent from happening: Avoid a possible accident by crossing only on the green light.
Not to be confused with:evade – dodge, fence, prevaricate; to escape from or get around by trickery: She tried to evade the rules. [Evade usually has a negative connotation. It means to elude by craft or slyness. Avoid means to succeed in keeping away from a dangerous or undesirable experience. In law, to avoid means to make void or of no effect; to invalidate. Tax avoidance, for example, could be legitimate, while tax evasion implies nonpayment of taxes, as through the failure to report taxable income.]

a·void

A0549600 (ə-void′)tr.v. a·void·ed, a·void·ing, a·voids 1. a. To stay clear of; go around or away from: swerve to avoid a pothole.b. To take measures so as not to meet or see (someone): "He never let go of the idea that she lived out there in order to avoid him" (Elizabeth Benedict).2. To prevent from happening: You can avoid illness with exercise and a balanced diet.3. a. To refrain from using, engaging in, or partaking of: avoid red meat; avoid risky behavior.b. To refrain from (doing something): It was all we could do to avoid laughing at the remark.4. Law To annul or make void; invalidate.5. Obsolete To void or expel.

[Middle English avoiden, from Anglo-Norman avoider, to empty out, variant of Old French esvuidier : es-, out (from Latin ex-; see ex-) + vuidier, to empty (from voide, empty; see void).]

a·void′a·ble adj.a·void′a·bly adv.a·void′er n.

avoid

(əˈvɔɪd) vb (tr) 1. to keep out of the way of2. to refrain from doing3. to prevent from happening: to avoid damage to machinery. 4. (Law) law to make (a plea, contract, etc) void; invalidate; quash5. obsolete to expel6. obsolete to depart from[C14: from Anglo-French avoider, from Old French esvuidier, from vuidier to empty, void] aˈvoidable adj aˈvoidably adv aˈvoider n

a•void

(əˈvɔɪd)

v.t. 1. to keep away from; keep clear of; shun: to avoid a person. 2. to prevent from happening: to avoid falling. 3. Law. to make void or of no effect; invalidate; annul. [1250–30; Middle English < Anglo-French avoider=a- a-⁴ + voider to void] a•void′a•ble, adj. a•void′a•bly, adv. a•void′ance, n. a•void′er, n.

avoid

If you avoid something, you take action to prevent it from happening to you.

We learned how to avoid a heart attack.The bus swerved to avoid a collision.

If you avoid doing something, you make sure that you don't do it.

Thomas turned his head, trying to avoid breathing in the smoke.You must avoid giving any unnecessary information.

Be Careful!
Don't say that you 'avoid to do' something.

Be Careful!
If you can't control or change the way you behave, don't say that you 'can't avoid' it. You say that you can't help it or that you can't help yourself.

It was so funny, I couldn't help laughing.You know what his temper's like, he just can't help himself.

Be Careful!
If someone does not allow you to do what you want to do, don't say that they 'avoid' you doing it. You say that they prevent you from doing it.

I wanted to prevent him from speaking.

avoid

Past participle: avoided
Gerund: avoiding

Imperative
avoid
avoid

Present
I avoid
you avoid
he/she/it avoids
we avoid
you avoid
they avoid

Preterite
I avoided
you avoided
he/she/it avoided
we avoided
you avoided
they avoided

Present Continuous
I am avoiding
you are avoiding
he/she/it is avoiding
we are avoiding
you are avoiding
they are avoiding

Present Perfect
I have avoided
you have avoided
he/she/it has avoided
we have avoided
you have avoided
they have avoided

Past Continuous
I was avoiding
you were avoiding
he/she/it was avoiding
we were avoiding
you were avoiding
they were avoiding

Past Perfect
I had avoided
you had avoided
he/she/it had avoided
we had avoided
you had avoided
they had avoided

Future
I will avoid
you will avoid
he/she/it will avoid
we will avoid
you will avoid
they will avoid

Future Perfect
I will have avoided
you will have avoided
he/she/it will have avoided
we will have avoided
you will have avoided
they will have avoided

Future Continuous
I will be avoiding
you will be avoiding
he/she/it will be avoiding
we will be avoiding
you will be avoiding
they will be avoiding

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been avoiding
you have been avoiding
he/she/it has been avoiding
we have been avoiding
you have been avoiding
they have been avoiding

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been avoiding
you will have been avoiding
he/she/it will have been avoiding
we will have been avoiding
you will have been avoiding
they will have been avoiding

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been avoiding
you had been avoiding
he/she/it had been avoiding
we had been avoiding
you had been avoiding
they had been avoiding

Conditional
I would avoid
you would avoid
he/she/it would avoid
we would avoid
you would avoid
they would avoid

Past Conditional
I would have avoided
you would have avoided
he/she/it would have avoided
we would have avoided
you would have avoided
they would have avoided

Thesaurus

Verb	1.	avoid - stay clear from; keep away from; keep out of the way of someone or something; "Her former friends now avoid her"evade, hedge, sidestep, skirt, parry, fudge, circumvent, dodge, elude, duck, put off - avoid or try to avoid fulfilling, answering, or performing (duties, questions, or issues); "He dodged the issue"; "she skirted the problem"; "They tend to evade their responsibilities"; "he evaded the questions skillfully"escape, miss - fail to experience; "Fortunately, I missed the hurricane"get away, get by, escape, get off, get out - escape potentially unpleasant consequences; get away with a forbidden action; "She gets away with murder!"; "I couldn't get out from under these responsibilities"bypass, get around, short-circuit, go around - avoid something unpleasant or laborious; "You cannot bypass these rules!"stay off, keep off - refrain from entering or walking onto; "keep off the grass"; "stay off the premises"shirk - avoid dealing with; "She shirks her duties"shy away from - avoid having to deal with some unpleasant task; "I shy away from this task"eschew, shun - avoid and stay away from deliberately; stay clear offace, face up, confront - deal with (something unpleasant) head on; "You must confront your problems"; "He faced the terrible consequences of his mistakes"
	2.	avoid - prevent the occurrence of; prevent from happening; "Let's avoid a confrontation"; "head off a confrontation"; "avert a strike"deflect, fend off, forefend, forfend, head off, avert, stave off, ward off, debar, obviateforeclose, forestall, preclude, prevent, forbid - keep from happening or arising; make impossible; "My sense of tact forbids an honest answer"; "Your role in the projects precludes your involvement in the competitive project"
	3.	avoid - refrain from doing something; "She refrains from calling her therapist too often"; "He should avoid publishing his wife's memories"fiddle, shirk, shrink from, goldbrick - avoid (one's assigned duties); "The derelict soldier shirked his duties"
	4.	avoid - refrain from certain foods or beverages; "I keep off drugs"; "During Ramadan, Muslims avoid tobacco during the day"keep offdesist, refrain, abstain - choose not to consume; "I abstain from alcohol"
	5.	avoid - declare invalid; "The contract was annulled"; "void a plea"annul, invalidate, nullify, void, quashstrike down, cancel - declare null and void; make ineffective; "Cancel the election results"; "strike down a law"break - invalidate by judicial action; "The will was broken"stet - printing: cancel, as of a correction or deletion

avoid

verb1. prevent, stop, frustrate, hamper, foil, inhibit, head off, avert, thwart, intercept, hinder, obstruct, impede, ward off, stave off, forestall, defend against He had to take emergency action to avoid a disaster.2. refrain from, bypass, dodge, eschew, escape, duck (out of) (informal), fight shy of, shirk from He managed to avoid giving them an idea of what he was up to.3. elude, escape, ignore, hide from, keep away from, keep aloof from She had to lock herself in to avoid him.
elude find, face, approach, contact, invite, pursue, confront, seek out, face up to, solicit4. keep away from, dodge, shun, evade, steer clear of, sidestep, circumvent, bypass, slip through the net, body-swerve (Scot.), give a wide berth to He had ample time to swerve and avoid the woman.

avoid

verbTo keep away from:burke, bypass, circumvent, dodge, duck, elude, escape, eschew, evade, get around, shun.Idioms: fight shy of, give a wide berth to, have no truck with, keep clear of.

Translations

避免

avoid

(əˈvoid) verb to keep away from (a place, person or thing). He drove carefully to avoid the holes in the road; Avoid the subject of money.避免aˈvoidance noun避免

avoid

→ 避免zhCN

avoid

avoid (someone or something) like the plague

To consciously stay away from someone or something. I didn't do my homework my last night, so I'm avoiding my teacher like the plague. My dog is terrified of cats and avoids them like the plague.See also: avoid, like, plague

fall into the trap of (doing something)

To succumb to doing something foolish or irresponsible. After college, I fell into the trap of using credit cards, and I've been deep in debt ever since.See also: fall, of, trap

let alone

1. verb To stop bothering someone or something. A noun or pronoun can be used between "let" and "alone." Why do you keep picking at that scab on your knee? Let it alone already! For the last time, let your brother alone—he needs to study!2. expression Not to mention. The phrase is used to emphasize that if other more significant or pressing things are not possible or cannot be accommodated, a lesser thing certainly is not or cannot either. I hardly had time to brush my teeth this morning, let alone do my hair! We can't afford a vacation, let alone a trip to Disney World.See also: alone, let

avoid the trap of (doing something)

To avoid to doing something foolish or irresponsible. After college, I couldn't avoid the trap of using credit cards, and I've been deep in debt ever since.See also: avoid, of, trap

avoid someone or something like the plague

Fig. to ignore or keep away from someone or something totally. What's wrong with Bob? Everyone avoids him like the plague. I don't like opera. I avoid it like the plague.See also: avoid, like, plague

let alone someone or something

not to mention or think of someone or something; not even to take someone or something into account. (Fixed order.) Do I have a dollar? I don't even have a dime, let alone a dollar. I didn't invite John, let alone the rest of his family.See also: alone, let

let someone or something alone

and leave someone or something alone; leave someone or something beto avoid touching, bothering, or communicating with someone or something. Leave me alone. I don't want your help. Let it alone! Don't touch it! It may be hot!See also: alone, let

avoid like the plague

Evade or elude at any cost, shun. For example, Since Bob was taken into police custody, his friends have been avoiding him and his family like the plague . This seemingly modern expression dates from the Latin of the early Middle Ages, when Saint Jerome (a.d. 345-420) wrote, "Avoid, as you would the plague, a clergyman who is also a man of business." The plague, a deadly infectious disease in his day, has been largely wiped out, but the term remains current. See also: avoid, like, plague

let alone

1. See leave someone alone. 2. Not to mention, as in We have no room for another house guest, let alone an entire family. [c. 1800] See also: alone, let

avoid someone/something like the plague

If you avoid someone or something like the plague, you do everything possible to avoid them. I would avoid him like the plague when his wife was around. The athlete must avoid all extra sugar like the plague. Note: The plague is bubonic plague, a disease which killed over 50 million people in Europe and Asia during the 14th century and was referred to as the Black Death. See also: avoid, like, plague, someone, something

let aˈlone

used after a statement to emphasize that because the first thing is not true or possible, the next thing cannot be true or possible either: I wouldn’t speak to him, let alone trust him or lend him money. ♢ She didn’t even apologize, let alone offer to pay for the damage.See also: alone, let

avoid somebody/something like the ˈplague

(informal) avoid somebody/something completely: It was the sort of restaurant that I would normally have avoided like the plague.A plague is an infectious disease that kills a lot of people.See also: avoid, like, plague, somebody, something

fall into/avoid the trap of doing something

do/avoid doing something that is a mistake but which seems at first to be a good idea: Parents sometimes fall into the trap of trying to do everything for their children.See also: avoid, fall, of, something, trap

let alone

Not to mention; much less: "Their ancestors had been dirt poor and never saw royalty, let alone hung around with them" (Garrison Keillor).See also: alone, let

avoid like the plague, to

To stay away from, assiduously shun. The scourge of western Europe on numerous occasions, the plague, although poorly understood, was known to be contagious even in the time of St. Jerome (a.d. 345– 420), who wrote, “Avoid, as you would the plague, a clergyman who is also a man of business.”See also: avoid, like

avoid

avoid

avoid

a·void

avoid

a•void

avoid

avoid

avoid

avoid

avoid

avoid

avoid

avoid (someone or something) like the plague

fall into the trap of (doing something)

let alone

avoid the trap of (doing something)

avoid someone or something like the plague

let alone someone or something

let someone or something alone

avoid like the plague

let alone

avoid someone/something like the plague

let aˈlone

avoid somebody/something like the ˈplague

fall into/avoid the trap of doing something

let alone

avoid like the plague, to

avoid

avoid

avoid

Synonyms for avoid

verb prevent

Synonyms

verb refrain from

Synonyms

verb elude

Synonyms

Antonyms

verb keep away from

Synonyms

Synonyms for avoid

verb to keep away from

Synonyms

Synonyms for avoid

verb stay clear from

Related Words

Antonyms

verb prevent the occurrence of

Synonyms

Related Words

verb refrain from doing something

Related Words

verb refrain from certain foods or beverages

Synonyms

Related Words

verb declare invalid

Synonyms

Related Words