Definition

1. Verb:
   • To turn away or aside: To deliberately direct one's gaze, attention, or something else away from something.
   • To prevent or ward off: To take action to stop something undesirable from happening.

Examples of Usage

• Verb (To turn away):
  • She averted her gaze from the disturbing image on the screen.
  • The witness averted his eyes when asked the difficult question.
• Verb (To prevent):
  • Quick thinking by the driver averted a major accident.
  • Diplomats worked tirelessly to avert a war.

Advanced Usage

• "to avert one's eyes/gaze/face": A common collocation meaning to look away, often out of discomfort, respect, or to avoid seeing something.
  • It is polite to avert your eyes when someone is entering a password.
• "to avert disaster/crisis/strike": A common collocation meaning to successfully prevent a major negative event.
  • The last-minute agreement averted a nationwide transportation strike.

Variants and Related Words

• Avertable/Avertible (adj): Capable of being prevented or warded off.
  • Many childhood diseases are now avertable through vaccination.
• Aversion (n): A strong dislike or disinclination. (Note: This is a related noun with a different, though connected, meaning focused on the feeling of turning away from something).
  • She has an aversion to loud noises.

Synonyms

• Turn away: To move one's eyes or head so as not to face something.
• Prevent: To stop something from happening or arising.
• Forestall: To prevent or obstruct (an anticipated event) by taking advance action.
• Ward off: To prevent someone or something from harming or affecting one.

Phrasal Verbs

(This word is not commonly used in phrasal verb constructions. Its meanings are contained within the single verb form.)

Related Idioms

• Avert one's eyes: To look away deliberately.
  • The scene was so gruesome that I had to avert my eyes.
• Avert a catastrophe: To prevent an extreme disaster.
  • The engineers' swift action averted a catastrophic dam failure.

Verb

1. turn away or aside
   • They averted their eyes when the King entered
2. prevent the occurrence of; prevent from happening
   • Let's avoid a confrontation
   • head off a confrontation
   • avert a strike