What does avoid mean?
Definitions for avoid
əˈvɔɪdavoid
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word avoid.
Princeton's WordNet
avoidverb
stay clear from; keep away from; keep out of the way of someone or something
"Her former friends now avoid her"
debar, forefend, forfend, obviate, deflect, avert, head off, stave off, fend off, avoid, ward offverb
prevent the occurrence of; prevent from happening
"Let's avoid a confrontation"; "head off a confrontation"; "avert a strike"
avoidverb
refrain from doing something
"She refrains from calling her therapist too often"; "He should avoid publishing his wife's memories"
keep off, avoidverb
refrain from certain foods or beverages
"I keep off drugs"; "During Ramadan, Muslims avoid tobacco during the day"
invalidate, annul, quash, void, avoid, nullifyverb
declare invalid
"The contract was annulled"; "void a plea"
Wiktionary
avoidverb
To keep away from; to keep clear of; to endeavor not to meet; to shun; to abstain from; as, to avoid the company of gamesters.
avoidverb
To make empty; to clear.
avoidverb
To make void, to annul; to refute (especially a contract).
avoidverb
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.
avoidverb
To emit or throw out; to void; as, to avoid excretions.
avoidverb
To leave, evacuate; to leave as empty, to withdraw or come away from.
avoidverb
To get rid of.
avoidverb
To retire; to withdraw, depart, go away.
avoidverb
To become void or vacant.
Etymology: From avoiden, from avoider, esvuidier, from es- + vuidier, from viduare, from viduus; see void.
Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
To AVOIDverb
Etymology: vuider, Fr.
The wisdom of pleasing God, by doing what he commands, and avoiding what he forbids. John Tillotson.
The fashion of the world is to avoid cost, and you encounter it. William Shakespeare, Much ado about Nothing.
What have you to do here, fellow? pray you, avoid the house. William Shakespeare, Coriolanus.
If any rebel should be required of the prince confederate, the prince confedederate should command him to avoid the country. Francis Bacon, Henry VII.
He desired to speak with some few of us: whereupon six of us only stayed, and the rest avoided the room. Francis Bacon, N. Atl.
The removing that which caused putrefaction, doth prevent and avoid putrefaction. Francis Bacon, Nat. Hist. №. 340.
To Avoidverb
And Saul cast the javelin; for he said, I will smite David even to the wall with it: and David avoided out of his presence twice. 1 Sam. xviii. 11.
Bishopricks are not included under benefices: so that if a person takes a bishoprick, it does not avoid by force of that law of pluralities, but by the ancient common law. John Ayliffe, Parergon Juris Canonici.
ChatGPT
avoid
Avoid generally means to keep away from or stop oneself from doing something. This could involve preventing something from happening by choosing not to go near or get involved in a particular situation, object or person. It can also refer to the act of consciously ignoring or dismissing certain activities or situations.
Webster Dictionary
Avoidadjective
to empty
Avoidadjective
to emit or throw out; to void; as, to avoid excretions
Avoidadjective
to quit or evacuate; to withdraw from
Avoidadjective
to make void; to annul or vacate; to refute
Avoidadjective
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
Avoidadjective
to get rid of
Avoidadjective
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
Avoidverb
to retire; to withdraw
Avoidverb
to become void or vacant
Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
Avoid
a-void′, v.t. to try to escape from: to shun: (law) to invalidate: (Shak.) to leave, to quit.—adj. Avoid′able.—n. Avoid′ance, the act of avoiding or shunning: act of annulling. [Pfx. a- = Fr. es = L. ex, out, and Void.]
British National Corpus
Spoken Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'avoid' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #1275
Written Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'avoid' in Written Corpus Frequency: #2096
Verbs Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'avoid' in Verbs Frequency: #185
Usage in printed sourcesFrom:
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Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of avoid in Chaldean Numerology is: 1
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of avoid in Pythagorean Numerology is: 6
Examples of avoid in a Sentence
If you’re branded as being too argumentative, it will cause people to take you less seriously—even when you have a rational, legitimate gripe, it leads to low trust, and as a result, people will often avoid you.
But this is the second work of the law when it hath by its convictions brought the sinner into a condition of a sense of guilt which he cannot avoid, -- nor will anything tender him relief, which way so ever he lose, for he is in a desert, -- it represents unto him the holiness and severity of God, with his indignation and wrath against sin which have a resemblance of a consuming fire. This fills his heart with dread and terror and makes him see his miserable, undone condition.
It looks like the U.S. will avoid a recession in 2019, which gives a little bit of a green light to take a little more risk.
America is not going to welch on its debts and what it owes. So I think we ought not to use that as a political issue, but, and this is a big but, we need to avoid a crisis of shutting down the government as happened under the The Alabama Republican leadership in the last Congress, which bled over to this Congress. As a result, I am urging that we do both in a bipartisan, constructive way.
If you have mutual funds in a taxable account, it is important to check the estimated mutual fund distributions that the fund families release ahead of time, by tax-loss harvesting this fund, not only do you avoid the capital gains distribution, you also capture a tax deduction. The combination could be a substantial savings.
Popularity rank by frequency of use
References
Translations for avoid
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- تجنبArabic
- унікнуць, ухіляцца, ўхіля́цца, унікаць, ухіліцца, ўхілі́ццаBelarusian
- анулирам, отбягвам, отменям, страня отBulgarian
- meiden, vermeidenGerman
- αποφεύγωGreek
- evitiEsperanto
- evitarSpanish
- hoiduma, vältimaEstonian
- پرهیزیدنPersian
- väistääFinnish
- fuir, éviterFrench
- evitarGalician
- kerül, elkerülHungarian
- evitareItalian
- 避ける, 免れる, 斎むJapanese
- 피하다Korean
- evado, vitareLatin
- ကြဉ်Burmese
- vermijdenDutch
- unngåNorwegian
- uniknąćPolish
- evitarPortuguese
- ocoli, evitaRomanian
- отменить, отменять, уклоняться, уклониться, избегать, избежать, аннулироватьRussian
- undvikaSwedish
- уникати, ухилитися, ухилятися, уникнутиUkrainian
- سے بچیںUrdu
- tránhVietnamese
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"avoid." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2025. Web. 6 Feb. 2025. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/avoid>.
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