avert

«avert» in Mova's school dictionary: to stop it from happening, as in «avert a disaster» — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

verb (avert, averts, averted, averting)

meaning for a pupil

1) To avert something bad means to stop it from happening, as in «avert a disaster». tree →

2) To avert your eyes means to look away, often because something is upsetting or embarrassing. tree →

sense in the lessons

In stories and news: a quick action averts a crash or a war; in stories, a character averts their gaze when shy, sad or ashamed; it is a slightly formal word; phrases: avert disaster, avert your eyes, avert a crisis.

examples

• The driver braked hard and averted a crash. tree →
• Quick thinking averted disaster. tree →
• She averted her eyes from the scary scene. tree →
• Talks between the leaders averted a war. tree →
• He averted his gaze when the teacher looked at him. tree →
• Hence fishermen dreaded his approach, and endeavoured, by prayer and fasting, to avert the misfortunes which he prophesied. tree →

note

Past: averted. Do not confuse with «avoid» (keep away from) or «divert» (send another way); «avert» means prevent or turn away. Trap: «avert» vs «advert» (an advertisement).

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «avert» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.