avoid
To try not to meet or communicate with (a person); to shun.
Verb 4 meanings
To try not to meet or communicate with (a person); to shun.
To stay out of the way of (something harmful).
“I avoided the slap easily.”
To keep away from; to keep clear of; to stay away from.
“I try to avoid the company of gamblers.”
To try not to do something or to have something happen.
Etymology
From Middle English avoiden, from Anglo-Norman avoider, Old French esvuidier (“to empty out”), from es- + vuidier, from Vulgar Latin *vocitāre < Vulgar Latin *vocitum, ultimately related to Latin vacuus. Displaced native Old English forbūgan (literally “to bend away from”).
Similar and opposite words
AVOID at a glance
AVOID has 5 letters and scores 9 points in Scrabble (A 1 + V 4 + O 1 + I 1 + D 2) and 10 in Words With Friends, before board bonuses. It ranks #1,374 by how often it appears in everyday English. It is valid in ENABLE, NWL2023, Collins/SOWPODS.
Rhymes with avoid
All rhymesOne letter away
- OVOID9
- AROID6
- AXOID13
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