avoider
Also found in: Thesaurus, Legal, Idioms.
a·void
(ə-void′)tr.v. a·void·ed, a·void·ing, a·voids
1.
a. To stay clear of; go around or away from: swerve to avoid a pothole.
b. To take measures so as not to meet or see (someone): "He never let go of the idea that she lived out there in order to avoid him" (Elizabeth Benedict).
2. To prevent from happening: You can avoid illness with exercise and a balanced diet.
3.
a. To refrain from using, engaging in, or partaking of: avoid red meat; avoid risky behavior.
b. To refrain from (doing something): It was all we could do to avoid laughing at the remark.
4. Law To annul or make void; invalidate.
5. Obsolete To void or expel.
[Middle English avoiden, from Anglo-Norman avoider, to empty out, variant of Old French esvuidier : es-, out (from Latin ex-; see ex-) + vuidier, to empty (from voide, empty; see void).]
a·void′a·ble adj.
a·void′a·bly adv.
a·void′er n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.