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to keep away from; keep clear of; shun:
to avoid a person; to avoid taxes; to avoid danger.
to prevent from happening:
to avoid falling.
law. to make void or of no effect; invalidate.
obsolete. to empty; eject or expel.
contemporary examples

on friday, young avoided being sent to jail on contempt of court charges.
edwards s-x tape details diane dimond march 14, 2010

i became paranoid and avoided her neighborhood, dreading the idea of running into her.
model diaries: escape from istanbul anonymous march 7, 2014

meanwhile, the runaway weirdness that feldman rightly points out is avoided.
an often-overlooked clause in the const-tution points the way to same-s-x marriage jay michaelson april 1, 2013

he also avoided repeating the horrors of another p-for-personality pick: palin in 2008.
in picking paul ryan, mitt romney goes for right-wing intensity, reform, and ideas michael medved august 12, 2012

if there are certain foods that take you out of that balance, then they need to be avoided at all costs.
3 ways to track your food and feel healthy ari meisel january 27, 2014

historical examples

he shunned society; avoided all unnecessary movement or excitement.
the pilgrims of the rhine edward bulwer-lytton

i avoided the house of mr clayton, and absented myself from his chapel.
blackwood’s edinburgh magazine, no. 327 various

no couplings are used, so that one great element of danger, is avoided.
my native land james c-x

so, he avoided her eyes as she stood by the window regarding him quizzically.
within the law marvin dana

formulas made from rich top-milk or milk and cream are to be avoided.
the care and feeding of children l. emmett holt

verb (transitive)
to keep out of the way of
to refrain from doing
to prevent from happening: to avoid damage to machinery
(law) to make (a plea, contract, etc) void; invalidate; quash
(obsolete) to expel
(obsolete) to depart from
v.

c.1300, from anglo-french avoider “to clear out, withdraw (oneself),” partially anglicized from old french esvuidier “to empty out,” from es- “out” (see ex-) + vuidier “to be empty,” from voide “empty, vast, wide, hollow, waste” (see void (adj.)). originally a law term; modern sense of “have nothing to do with” also was in middle english and corresponds to old french eviter with which it was perhaps confused. meaning “escape, evade” first attested 1520s. related: avoided; avoiding.