avoid verb - Definition, pictures, pronunciation and usage notes

avoid doing something He tried to avoid paying his taxes and was taken to court. More Like This Verbs usually followed by -ing forms ... Togglenavigation Redeem Upgrade Help Signin Dictionaries Dictionarieshome English AmericanEnglish Academic Collocations German-English Grammar Grammarhome PracticalEnglishUsage Learn&PractiseGrammar(Beta) WordLists WordListshome MyWordLists Topics Recentadditions Resources Resourceshome TextChecker Signin Dictionaries Dictionarieshome English AmericanEnglish Academic Collocations German-English Grammar Grammarhome PracticalEnglishUsage Learn&PractiseGrammar(Beta) WordLists WordListshome MyWordLists Topics Recentadditions Resources Resourceshome TextChecker Redeem Upgrade Help TOP English English AmericanEnglish AcademicEnglish Collocations PracticalEnglishUsage German-English English-German English AmericanEnglish Entersearchtext DefinitionofavoidverbfromtheOxfordAdvancedLearner'sDictionary avoidverb OPALWOPALS /əˈvɔɪd/ /əˈvɔɪd/VerbFormspresentsimpleI/you/we/theyavoid /əˈvɔɪd/ /əˈvɔɪd/he/she/itavoids /əˈvɔɪdz/ /əˈvɔɪdz/pastsimpleavoided /əˈvɔɪdɪd/ /əˈvɔɪdɪd/pastparticipleavoided /əˈvɔɪdɪd/ /əˈvɔɪdɪd/-ingformavoiding /əˈvɔɪdɪŋ/ /əˈvɔɪdɪŋ/Idioms jumptootherresults  topreventsomethingbadfromhappeningavoidsomethingtoavoidconflict/confrontationWemustfindawaytoavoidsimilarproblemsinfuture.Theynarrowlyavoideddefeat.Thenamewaschangedtoavoidconfusionwithanotherfirm.Theaccidentcouldhavebeenavoided.Effortsarebeingmadetoavoidwaratallcosts.avoiddoingsomethingTheybuiltawalltoavoidsoilbeingwashedaway.ExtraExamplesItissometimesimpossibletoavoidconflictaltogether.Theyareanxioustoavoidanyfurthermisunderstandings.Mostoftheseproblemscouldhavebeeneasilyavoided.Theauthoritiesareeagertoavoidbadpublicity.OxfordCollocationsDictionaryadverbaltogetheractivelyassiduously…verb+avoidbeanxioustowanttowishto…phrasesanattempttoavoidsomethinganefforttoavoidsomethingSeefullentry Questionsaboutgrammarandvocabulary? FindtheanswerswithPracticalEnglishUsageonline,yourindispensableguidetoproblemsinEnglish. Joinus JoinourcommunitytoaccessthelatestlanguagelearningandassessmenttipsfromOxfordUniversityPress! Definitionsonthego Lookupanywordinthedictionaryoffline,anytime,anywherewiththeOxfordAdvancedLearner’sDictionaryapp. Wanttolearnmore? FindoutwhichwordsworktogetherandproducemorenaturalsoundingEnglishwiththeOxfordCollocationsDictionaryapp.  tokeepawayfromsomebody/something;totrynottodosomethingavoidsomebody/somethingHe'sbeenavoidingmeallweek.Shekeptavoidingmyeyes(=avoidedlookingatme).Bystayingathomehemanagestoavoidallcontactwithstrangers.Certainfoodsshouldbeavoidedduringpregnancy.Ileftearlytoavoidtherushhour.avoiddoingsomethingHetriedtoavoidpayinghistaxesandwastakentocourt.MoreLikeThisVerbsusuallyfollowedby-ingformsVerbsusuallyfollowedby-ingformsavoidconsiderdelaydenyenjoyescapefinishgiveupimagineinvolvementionmindmisspostponepractiseresistrisksuggestExtraExamplesI'vebeenavoidinggettingdowntoworkallday.Youshouldavoidmentioninghisdivorce.Thetwomencarefullyavoidedoneanother.IscrupulouslyavoidartificialadditiveswhenIbuyfood.Hewascarefultoavoidanysentimentalityinhisspeech.Shepointedlyavoidedlookingathimwhenshespoke.Gettinginvolvedinacourtcaseissomethingtobeavoidedatallcosts.Hedeftlyavoidedansweringthequestion.Hefailedinhisattempttoavoidhavingtopay.OxfordCollocationsDictionaryadverbaltogetheractivelyassiduously…verb+avoidbeanxioustowanttowishto…phrasesanattempttoavoidsomethinganefforttoavoidsomethingSeefullentry  avoidsomethingtopreventyourselffromhittingsomethingThecarswervedtoavoidacat.ExtraExamplesHebrakedhardandnarrowlyavoidedaparkedvan.Theyduckedtoavoidalowbranch.OxfordCollocationsDictionaryadverbnarrowlyverb+avoidbraketoslowtoslowdownto…SeefullentryWordOriginlateMiddleEnglish:fromOldFrenchevuider‘clearout,getridof’,fromvuide‘empty’,relatedtoLatinvacare‘vacate’.Idiomsavoidsomebody/somethingliketheplague(informal)totryveryhardnottomeetsomebody,dosomething,etc.She'sbeenavoidingmeliketheplaguesincethepartylastSaturday.Ihateofficeparties—Iavoidthemliketheplague.tofallinto/avoidthetrapofdoingsomethingtodo/avoiddoingsomethingthatisamistakebutthatseemsatfirsttobeagoodideaParentsoftenfallintothetrapoftryingtodoeverythingfortheirchildren.Themovieavoidsthetrapofspendingtoomuchtimeexplainingthings.SeeavoidintheOxfordAdvancedAmericanDictionarySeeavoidintheOxfordLearner'sDictionaryofAcademicEnglishCheckpronunciation: avoid Nearbywords avocationnoun avocetnoun avoidverb avoidableadjective avoidancenoun hazardous adjective     FromtheTopic Danger C1 OxfordLearner'sDictionariesWordoftheDay