avoid

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Related to avoid: avoid doing

a danger foreseen is half-avoided

proverb Being aware of a danger helps you to prepare and avoid the full brunt of it. In the winter, I always listen to the weather forecast so that I'm never caught by surprise by a snowstorm. A danger foreseen is half avoided, after all.

avoid (someone or something) like the plague

To consciously stay away from someone or something. I didn't do my homework my last night, so I'm avoiding my teacher like the plague. My dog is terrified of cats and avoids them like the plague.

avoid evil and it will avoid thee

proverb If you don't engage with bad or malevolent people, things, or situations, then you won't fall victim to them. I can't believe he's hanging out with those ne'er-do-wells. I always advised him, "Avoid evil and it will avoid thee." A: "How is that you weren't brought in for questioning?" B: "I wasn't involved in their little scam at all. Avoid evil and it will avoid thee—you might want to write that one down."

avoid the trap of (doing something)

To avoid to doing something foolish or irresponsible. After college, I couldn't avoid the trap of using credit cards, and I've been deep in debt ever since.

fall into the trap of (doing something)

To succumb to doing something foolish or irresponsible. After college, I fell into the trap of using credit cards, and I've been deep in debt ever since.

let alone

1. verb To stop bothering someone or something. A noun or pronoun can be used between "let" and "alone." Why do you keep picking at that scab on your knee? Let it alone already! For the last time, let your brother alone—he needs to study!

2. expression Not to mention. The phrase is used to emphasize that if other more significant or pressing things are not possible or cannot be accommodated, a lesser thing certainly is not or cannot either. I hardly had time to brush my teeth this morning, let alone do my hair! We can't afford a vacation, let alone a trip to Disney World.

See also: alone, let

avoid someone or something like the plague

Fig. to ignore or keep away from someone or something totally. What's wrong with Bob? Everyone avoids him like the plague. I don't like opera. I avoid it like the plague.

let alone someone or something

not to mention or think of someone or something; not even to take someone or something into account. (Fixed order.) Do I have a dollar? I don't even have a dime, let alone a dollar. I didn't invite John, let alone the rest of his family.

See also: alone, let

let someone or something alone

and leave someone or something alone; leave someone or something be

to avoid touching, bothering, or communicating with someone or something. Leave me alone. I don't want your help. Let it alone! Don't touch it! It may be hot!

See also: alone, let

avoid like the plague

Evade or elude at any cost, shun. For example, Since Bob was taken into police custody, his friends have been avoiding him and his family like the plague . This seemingly modern expression dates from the Latin of the early Middle Ages, when Saint Jerome (a.d. 345-420) wrote, "Avoid, as you would the plague, a clergyman who is also a man of business." The plague, a deadly infectious disease in his day, has been largely wiped out, but the term remains current.

let alone

1. See leave someone alone.

2. Not to mention, as in We have no room for another house guest, let alone an entire family. [c. 1800]

See also: alone, let

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

avoid someone/something like the plague

If you avoid someone or something like the plague, you do everything possible to avoid them. I would avoid him like the plague when his wife was around. The athlete must avoid all extra sugar like the plague. Note: The plague is bubonic plague, a disease which killed over 50 million people in Europe and Asia during the 14th century and was referred to as the Black Death.

See also: avoid, like, plague, someone, something

Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012

let aˈlone

used after a statement to emphasize that because the first thing is not true or possible, the next thing cannot be true or possible either: I wouldn’t speak to him, let alone trust him or lend him money. ♢ She didn’t even apologize, let alone offer to pay for the damage.

See also: alone, let

avoid somebody/something like the ˈplague

(informal) avoid somebody/something completely: It was the sort of restaurant that I would normally have avoided like the plague.

A plague is an infectious disease that kills a lot of people.

See also: avoid, like, plague, somebody, something

fall into/avoid the trap of doing something

do/avoid doing something that is a mistake but which seems at first to be a good idea: Parents sometimes fall into the trap of trying to do everything for their children.

See also: avoid, fall, of, something, trap

let alone

Not to mention; much less: "Their ancestors had been dirt poor and never saw royalty, let alone hung around with them" (Garrison Keillor).

See also: alone, let

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

avoid like the plague, to

To stay away from, assiduously shun. The scourge of western Europe on numerous occasions, the plague, although poorly understood, was known to be contagious even in the time of St. Jerome (a.d. 345– 420), who wrote, “Avoid, as you would the plague, a clergyman who is also a man of business.”