/ əˈvɜːt; NAmE əˈvɜːrt/ verb [ vn ]
1.
to prevent sth bad or dangerous from happening :
A disaster was narrowly averted.
He did his best to avert suspicion.
2.
avert your eyes, gaze, face (from sth) to turn your eyes, etc. away from sth that you do not want to see :
She averted her eyes from the terrible scene in front of her.
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WORD ORIGIN
late Middle English (in the sense divert or deter someone from a place or a course of action ): from Latin avertere , from ab- from + vertere to turn; reinforced by Old French avertir .