Tra từ avoid - Từ điển Oxford Advanced Learner 8th

avoid [avoid avoids avoided avoiding] BrE [əˈvɔɪd] NAmE [əˈvɔɪd] verb
1. to prevent sth bad from happening
•~ sth The accident could have been avoided.
• They narrowly avoided defeat.
•The name was changed to avoid confusion with another firm.
•~ doing sth They built a wall to avoid soil being washed away.
2. to keep away from sb/sth; to try not to do sth
•~ sb/sth He's been avoiding me all week.
• She kept avoiding my eyes (= avoided looking at me).
•I left early to avoid the rush hour.
•~ doing sth I've been avoiding getting down to work all day.
•You should avoid mentioning his divorce.
3. ~ sth to prevent yourself from hitting sth
• The car swerved to avoid a cat.
more at to fall into/avoid the trap of doing sth at ↑trap _n.
Idiom: ↑avoid somebody like the plague
Verb forms:

Word Origin:
late Middle English: from Old French evuider ‘clear out, get rid of’, from vuide ‘empty’, related to Latin vacare ‘vacate’.

Thesaurus:
avoid verb T
1.
•The accident could have been avoided.
prevent • • stop • |formal preclude • |written avert •
avoid/prevent sb/stop/preclude doing sth
avoid/prevent/stop/avert a/an crisis/accident
avoid/prevent/avert a disaster/catastrophe/tragedy/conflict
2. T
•He's been avoiding me all week.
stay away • • boycott • • steer clear • • keep your distance • |written shun •
avoid/shun publicity/the limelight
deliberately avoid/stay away from/steer clear of sb/sth

Example Bank:
•Getting involved in a court case is something to be avoided at all costs.
•He braked hard and narrowly avoided a parked van.
•He deftly avoided answering the question.
•He failed in his attempt to avoid having to pay.
•He was careful to avoid any sentimentality in his speech.
•I scrupulously avoid artificial additives when I buy food.
•It is sometimes impossible to avoid conflict altogether.
•Most of these problems could have been easily avoided.
•She pointedly avoided looking at him when she spoke.
•She swerved to avoid a bicycle.
•The two men carefully avoided one another.
•They are anxious to avoid any further misunderstandings.
•They ducked to avoid a low branch.
•They narrowly avoided defeat in the semi-final.
•He's been avoiding me all week.
•I hate office parties— I avoid them like the plague.
•She kept avoiding my eyes.
•The authorities are eager to avoid bad publicity.
•They built a wall to avoid the soil being washed away.