stay clear from; keep away from; keep out of the way of someone or something
"Her former friends now avoid her"
refrain from doing something
"She refrains from calling her therapist too often"
"He should avoid publishing his wife's memories"
to try not to meet or communicate with (a person); to shun
"After their heated argument, she tried to avoid him at every family gathering he attended."
In plain English: To avoid means to stay away from something or someone so you don't have to deal with it.
"She tries to avoid traffic by taking a different route to work."
Usage: Use avoid when you intentionally stay away from someone or something to prevent an encounter. This applies whether you are skipping a social gathering to evade a difficult conversation or steering clear of a specific location.
The word "avoid" entered Middle English from Anglo-Norman and Old French, where it originally meant "to empty out." It eventually replaced the native Old English term forbūgan, which literally described bending away from something.