(~s, ~ing, ~ed)
Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English.
1.
If you ~ something unpleasant that might happen, you take action in order to prevent it from happening.
The pilots had to take emergency action to ~ a disaster...
Women have to dress modestly, to ~ being harassed by the locals.
VERB: V n, V -ing
2.
If you ~ doing something, you choose not to do it, or you put yourself in a situation where you do not have to do it.
By borrowing from dozens of banks, he managed to ~ giving any of them an overall picture of what he was up to...
He was always careful to ~ embarrassment.
VERB: V -ing, V n
3.
If you ~ a person or thing, you keep away from them. When talking to someone, if you ~ the subject, you keep the conversation away from a particular topic.
She eventually had to lock herself in the toilets to ~ him...
VERB: V n
4.
If a person or vehicle ~s someone or something, they change the direction they are moving in, so that they do not hit them.
The driver had ample time to brake or swerve and ~ the woman.
VERB: V n