Part 816

<note>&hand; In this sense the word is applied to the smaller affairs of life, or occasional calls which summon a person to leave his ordinary or principal business. <i>Avocation</i> (in the singular) for <i>vocation</i> is usually avoided by good writers.</note>

<p><b>3.</b> <pluf>pl.</pluf> <def>Pursuits; duties; affairs which occupy one's time; usual employment; vocation.</def>

<blockquote>There are professions, among the men, no more favorable to these studies than the common <b>avocations</b> of women. <i>Richardson.</i></blockquote>

<blockquote>In a few hours, above thirty thousand men left his standard, and returned to their ordinary <b>avocations</b>. <i>Macaulay.</i></blockquote>

<-- p. 106 -->

<blockquote>An irregularity and instability of purpose, which makes them choose the wandering avocations of a shepherd, rather than the more fixed pursuits of agriculture. <i>Buckle.</i></blockquote>

<h1>Avocative</h1> <Xpage=106>

<hw>A*vo"ca*tive</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>a.</tt> <def>Calling off.</def> <mark>[Obs.]</mark>

<h1>Avocative</h1> <Xpage=106>

<hw>A*vo"ca*tive</hw>, <tt>n.</tt> <def>That which calls aside; a dissuasive.</def>

<h1>Avocet, Avoset</h1> <Xpage=106>

<hw><hw>Av"o*cet</hw>, <hw>Av"o*set</hw><hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <ety>[F. <ets>avocette</ets>: cf. It. <ets>avosetta</ets>, Sp. <ets>avoceta</ets>.]</ety> <fld>(Zo\'94l.)</fld> <def>A grallatorial bird, of the genus <spn>Recurvirostra</spn>; the scooper. The bill is long and bend upward toward the tip. The American species is <spn>R. Americana</spn>.</def> <altsp>[Written also <asp>avocette</asp>.]</altsp>

<h1>Avoid</h1> <Xpage=106>

<hw>A*void"</hw> <tt>(<?/)</tt>, <tt>v. t. </tt> <wordforms>[p. & p. p.</tt> <er>Avoided</er>; <tt>p. pr.</tt> & <ets>vb<tt>ets>. <ets>n<tt>ets>. <er>Avoiding</er>.]</wordforms> <ety>[OF. <ets>esvuidier</ets>, <ets>es</ets> (L. <ets>ex</ets>) + <ets>vuidier</ets>, <ets>voidier</ets>, to empty. See <er>Void</er>, <tt>a.</tt>]</ety> <p><b>1.</b> <def>To empty.</def> <mark>[Obs.]</mark>

<i>Wyclif.</i>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>To emit or throw out; to void; <as>as, to <ex>avoid</ex> excretions</as>.</def> <mark>[Obs.]</mark>

<i>Sir T. Browne.</i>

<p><b>3.</b> <def>To quit or evacuate; to withdraw from.</def> <mark>[Obs.]</mark>

<blockquote>Six of us only stayed, and the rest <b>avoided</b> the room. <i>Bacon.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>4.</b> <def>To make void; to annul or vacate; to refute.</def>

<blockquote>How can these grants of the king's be <b>avoided</b>? <i>Spenser.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>5.</b> <def>To keep away from; to keep clear of; to endeavor no to meet; to shun; to abstain from; <as>as, to <ex>avoid</ex> the company of gamesters</as>.</def>

<blockquote>What need a man forestall his date of grief. And run to meet what he would most <b>avoid</b> ? <i>Milton.</i></blockquote>

<blockquote>He carefully <b>avoided</b> every act which could goad them into open hostility. <i>Macaulay.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>6.</b> <def>To get rid of.</def> <mark>[Obs.]</mark>

<i>Shak.</i>

<p><b>7.</b> <fld>(Pleading)</fld> <def>To defeat or evade; to invalidate. Thus, in a replication, the plaintiff may deny the defendant's plea, or confess it, and <i>avoid</i> it by stating new matter.</def>

<i>Blackstone.</i>