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Webster 1913 Edition

Avoid

A-void′

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Avoided
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Avoiding
.]
[OF.
esvuidier
,
es
(L.
ex
) +
vuidier
,
voidier
, to empty. See
Void
,
Adj.
]
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.
– 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.

A-void′

,
Verb.
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.

Webster 1828 Edition

Avoid

AVOID'

,
Verb.
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'

,
Verb.
I.
To retire; to withdraw.
David avoided out of his presence. 1Sam. 18. [Improper.]
2.
To become void, vacant or empty.
A benefice avoids by common law.

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