# avoid

/əˈvɔɪd/ (US) · /ɐvˈɔɪd/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/avoid
Updated: 2026-06-19

## Senses

### 1. to stay away from

verb · CEFR A2

to keep away from a person, place, or thing.

For teachers: to keep away from or shun a person, place, or object through deliberate action.

- He took a different path to avoid meeting his boss in the hallway.
- The celebrity avoided the main entrance of the hotel to escape the crowd of photographers waiting for a statement.

Usage: Always followed by a noun or a gerund (-ing form).

### 2. to prevent something

verb · CEFR A2

to stop something bad from happening or to keep yourself from doing something.

For teachers: to prevent the occurrence of an undesirable event or to refrain from a specific action.

- You should wear a seatbelt to avoid injury in case of an accident.
- The pilot performed a sharp maneuver to avoid a collision with the unidentified drone hovering near the runway.

Usage: Commonly used with abstract nouns like 'conflict', 'injury', or 'mistakes'.

### 3. to make void

verb · CEFR C1 · Formal · Technical

to make a contract or legal agreement no longer valid.

For teachers: to render a contract, plea, or transaction void or invalid.

- The judge decided to avoid the contract because one person was forced to sign it.
- The court moved to avoid the agreement on the grounds that the defendant had misrepresented the company's financial health during negotiations.

Teaching tip: In everyday English, people use 'cancel' or 'invalidate'; 'avoid' in this sense is strictly for legal contexts.

## Examples

- You should avoid sugary drinks if you want to be healthy.
- Drivers are advised to avoid the city center this afternoon due to heavy road construction.
- To minimize legal liability, the corporation must avoid any actions that could be interpreted as a conflict of interest during the merger negotiations.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.