avoid
avoid Lexical Profile
avoid Game Scores & Validity
• verb
To keep away from or stop oneself from doing or experiencing something.
"We took a detour through the side streets to avoid the heavy morning traffic."
To prevent something undesirable from happening.
"Clear communication between team members helps avoid costly mistakes during production."
To declare a contract, decree, or legal instrument to be invalid or of no effect (in law).
"The court ruled that the party had the right to avoid the contract on the grounds of misrepresentation."
Word Nuance & Usage
When followed by a verb, 'avoid' requires a gerund (e.g., 'avoid driving') rather than an infinitive ('avoid to drive'). It is also frequently distinguished from 'evade,' which often implies using cleverness, trickery, or subterfuge to escape a duty or pursuer.
• Rhymes for avoid
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed into Middle English from Anglo-Norman 'avoider' and Old French 'esvuidier', meaning 'to empty out' or 'clear away', formed from the prefix 'es-' (from Latin 'ex-', meaning 'out') and 'vuidier' ('to empty', from Vulgar Latin '*vocitare', related to 'vacuus').