Definify.com

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.

Definition 2024

avoid

avoid

English

Verb

avoid ‎(third-person singular simple present avoids, present participle avoiding, simple past and past participle avoided)

  1. (transitive) To keep away from; to keep clear of; to endeavor not to meet; to shun; to abstain from.
    I try to avoid the company of gamblers.
    • 1526, Bible, tr. William Tyndale, Matthew 4:
      The devyll […] sayde unto hym: all these will I geve the, iff thou wilt faull doune and worship me. Then sayde Jesus unto hym. Avoyde Satan.
    • Milton
      What need a man forestall his date of grief, / And run to meet what he would most avoid?
    • Macaulay
      He carefully avoided every act which could goad them into open hostility.
    • 2012 June 19, Phil McNulty, “England 1-0 Ukraine”, in BBC Sport:
      England could have met world and European champions Spain but that eventuality was avoided by Sweden's 2-0 win against France, and Rooney's first goal in a major tournament since scoring twice in the 4-2 victory over Croatia in Lisbon at Euro 2004.
  2. (transitive, obsolete) To make empty; to clear.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Wyclif to this entry?)
  3. (transitive, now law) To make void, to annul; to refute (especially a contract).
    • Spenser
      How can these grants of the king's be avoided?
  4. (transitive, law) 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.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Blackstone to this entry?)
  5. (transitive, obsolete) To emit or throw out; to void
    to avoid excretions
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Sir Thomas Browne to this entry?)
  6. (transitive, obsolete) To leave, evacuate; to leave as empty, to withdraw or come away from.
    • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter xvij, in Le Morte Darthur, book X:
      Anone they encountred to gyders / and he with the reed shelde smote hym soo hard that he bare hym ouer to the erthe / There with anone came another Knyght of the castel / and he was smyten so sore that he auoyded his fadel
    • Francis Bacon
      Six of us only stayed, and the rest avoided the room.
  7. (transitive, obsolete) To get rid of.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)
  8. (intransitive, obsolete) To retire; to withdraw, depart, go away.
  9. (intransitive, obsolete) To become void or vacant.

Usage notes

  • This is a catenative verb that takes the gerund (-ing). See Appendix:English catenative verbs

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

External links

  • avoid at OneLook Dictionary Search

Etymology

From Middle English avoiden, from Anglo-Norman avoider, Old French esvuidier ‎(“to empty out”), from es- + vuidier, from Vulgar Latin *vocitāre < *vocitus < *vocivus, ultimately related to Latin vacuus.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /əˈvɔɪd/
  • Hyphenation: a‧void
  • Rhymes: -ɔɪd

Similar Results