Part 817

<syn>Syn. -- To escape; elude; evade; eschew.</syn> <usage> -- To <er>Avoid</er>, <er>Shun</er>. <i>Avoid</i> in its commonest sense means, <i>to keep clear of</i>, an extension of the meaning, <i>to withdraw one's self from</i>. It denotes care taken not to come near or in contact; <as>as, to <ex>avoid</ex> certain persons or places</as>. <i>Shun</i> is a stronger term, implying more prominently the idea of intention. The words may, however, in many cases be interchanged.</usage>

<blockquote>No man can pray from his heart to be kept from temptation, if the take no care of himself to <b>avoid</b> it. <i>Mason.</i></blockquote>

<blockquote>So Chanticleer, who never saw a fox, Yet <b>shunned</b> him as a sailor <b>shuns</b> the rocks. <i>Dryden.</i></blockquote>

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

<hw>A*void"</hw>, <tt>v. i.</tt> <p><b>1.</b> <def>To retire; to withdraw.</def> <mark>[Obs.]</mark>

<blockquote>David <b>avoided</b> out of his presence. <i>1 Sam. xviii. 11.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>2.</b> <fld>(Law)</fld> <def>To become void or vacant.</def> <mark>[Obs.]</mark>

<i>Ayliffe.</i>

<h1>Avoidable</h1> <Xpage=106>

<hw>A*void"a*ble</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>a.</tt> <p><b>1.</b> <def>Capable of being vacated; liable to be annulled or made invalid; voidable.</def>

<blockquote>The charters were not <b>avoidable</b> for the king's nonage. <i>Hale.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>Capable of being avoided, shunned, or escaped.</def>

<h1>Avoidance</h1> <Xpage=106>

<hw>A*void"ance</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <p><b>1.</b> <def>The act of annulling; annulment.</def>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>The act of becoming vacant, or the state of being vacant; -- specifically used for the state of a benefice becoming void by the death, deprivation, or resignation of the incumbent.</def>

<blockquote>Wolsey, . . . on every <b>avoidance</b> of St. Peter's chair, was sitting down therein, when suddenly some one or other clapped in before him. <i>Fuller.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>3.</b> <def>A dismissing or a quitting; removal; withdrawal.</def>

<p><b>4.</b> <def>The act of avoiding or shunning; keeping clear of.</def> "The <i>avoidance</i> of pain."

<i>Beattie.</i>

<p><b>5.</b> <def>The courts by which anything is carried off.</def>

<blockquote><b>Avoidances</b> and drainings of water. <i>Bacon.</i></blockquote>

<h1>Avoider</h1> <Xpage=106>

<hw>A*void"er</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <p><b>1.</b> <def>The person who carries anything away, or the vessel in which things are carried away.</def>

<i>Johnson.</i>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>One who avoids, shuns, or escapes.</def>

<h1>Avoidless</h1> <Xpage=106>

<hw>A*void"less</hw>, <tt>a.</tt> <def>Unavoidable; inevitable.</def>

<h1>Avoirdupois</h1> <Xpage=106>