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.
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- Avoid
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 They do not include so-called “Variable Interest Entities,” the subsidiaries banks use to […]
- Avoidable
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 The way doctors are paid is one reason why avoidable procedures persist. PSA […]
- Avoidance
the act of avoiding or keeping away from: the avoidance of scandal; the avoidance of one’s neighbors. Law. a making void; annulment. Contemporary Examples But those who worked with Charles in advertising say that his avoidance of contact was not shyness, but a deliberate campaign. Charles Saatchi: From Saatchi & Saatchi to Allegedly Choking Nigella […]
- Avoidance play
a play by the declarer designed to prevent a particular opponent from taking the lead.
- Avoidance behavior
noun a pervasive pattern of avoiding or withdrawing from social interaction; a defense mechanism by which a person removes himself/herself from unpleasant situations Examples He comes home late, after dinner, in classic avoidance behavior. Word Origin by 1928