3  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Avoid  \A*void"\,  v.  t.  [imp.  &  p.  p.  {Avoided};  p.  pr  &  vb  n. 
  {Avoiding}.]  [OF.  esvuidier  es  (L.  ex)  +  vuidier  voidier 
  to  empty.  See  {Void},  a.] 
  1.  To  empty.  [Obs.]  --Wyclif. 
 
  2.  To  emit  or  throw  out  to  void;  as  to  avoid  excretions. 
  [Obs.]  --Sir  T.  Browne. 
 
  3.  To  quit  or  evacuate;  to  withdraw  from  [Obs.] 
 
  Six  of  us  only  stayed,  and  the  rest  avoided  the 
  room  --Bacon. 
 
  4.  To  make  void;  to  annul  or  vacate;  to  refute. 
 
  How  can  these  grants  of  the  king's  be  avoided? 
  --Spenser. 
 
  5.  To  keep  away  from  to  keep  clear  of  to  endeavor  no  to 
  meet  to  shun;  to  abstain  from  as  to  avoid  the  company 
  of  gamesters. 
 
  What  need  a  man  forestall  his  date  of  grief.  And  run 
  to  meet  what  he  would  most  avoid  ?  --Milton. 
 
  He  carefully  avoided  every  act  which  could  goad  them 
  into  open  hostility.  --Macaulay. 
 
  6.  To  get  rid  of  [Obs.]  --Shak. 
 
  7.  (Pleading)  To  defeat  or  evade;  to  invalidate.  Thus  in  a 
  replication,  the  plaintiff  may  deny  the  defendant's  plea, 
  or  confess  it  and  avoid  it  by  stating  new  matter. 
  --Blackstone. 
 
  Syn:  To  escape;  elude;  evade;  eschew. 
 
  Usage:  To  {Avoid},  {Shun}.  Avoid  in  its  commonest  sense 
  means  to  keep  clear  of  an  extension  of  the  meaning, 
  to  withdraw  one's  self  from  It  denotes  care  taken  not 
  to  come  near  or  in  contact  as  to  avoid  certain 
  persons  or  places.  Shun  is  a  stronger  term,  implying 
  more  prominently  the  idea  of  intention.  The  words  may 
  however,  in  many  cases  be  interchanged. 
 
  No  man  can  pray  from  his  heart  to  be  kept  from 
  temptation,  if  the  take  no  care  of  himself  to 
  avoid  it  --Mason. 
 
  So  Chanticleer,  who  never  saw  a  fox,  Yet  shunned 
  him  as  a  sailor  shuns  the  rocks.  --Dryden. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Avoid  \A*void"\,  v.  i. 
  1.  To  retire;  to  withdraw.  [Obs.] 
 
  David  avoided  out  of  his  presence.  --1  Sam. 
  xviii.  11. 
 
  2.  (Law)  To  become  void  or  vacant.  [Obs.]  --Ayliffe. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  avoid 
  v  1:  stay  clear  from  keep  away  from  keep  out  of  the  way  of 
  someone  or  something  "Her  former  friends  now  avoid  her" 
  [ant:  {confront}] 
  2:  prevent  the  occurrence  of  prevent  from  happening;  "Let's 
  avoid  a  confrontation";  "head  off  a  confrontation";  "avert 
  a  strike"  [syn:  {debar},  {obviate},  {deflect},  {avert},  {head 
  off},  {stave  off},  {fend  off},  {ward  off}] 
  3:  refrain  from  doing  something  "She  refrains  from  calling  her 
  therapist  too  often";  "He  should  avoid  publishing  his 
  wife's  memoires"  [syn:  {refrain  from},  {forbear  from},  {desist 
  from},  {abstain  from},  {keep  from}] 
  4:  refrain  from  certain  foods  of  beverages;  "I  keep  off  drugs"; 
  "During  Ramadan,  Muslims  avoid  tobacco  during  the  day" 
  [syn:  {keep  off}] 
  5:  declare  invalid;  "The  contract  was  annulled";  "avoid  a  plea" 
  [syn:  {invalidate},  {annul},  {quash},  {void},  {nullify}] 
  [ant:  {validate}] 

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