Avoid

v. evade, escape; keep away from; prevent, keep from happening; nullify, make void (Law)

In law, a transaction or action which is voidable is valid, but may be annulled by one of the parties to the transaction. Voidable is usually used in distinction to void ab initio (or void from the outset) and unenforceable.The act of invalidating the contract by the party exercising its rights to anul the voidable contract is usually referred to either as voiding the contract (in the United States and Canada) or avoiding the contract (in the United Kingdom, Australia and other common law countries).Generally speaking, one party will have the right to elect whether to annul the transaction or to affirm it. The avoiding of a voidable transaction amounts to the rescinding it, or exercising a power of rescission, and as such is subject to the general law in that regard.
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Verb
1. stay clear from; keep away from; keep out of the way of someone or something; "Her former friends now avoid her"
(antonym) confront, face up, face
(hyponym) hedge, fudge, evade, put off, circumvent, parry, elude, skirt, dodge, duck, sidestep
(derivation) avoidance, turning away, shunning, dodging
2. prevent the occurrence of; prevent from happening; "Let's avoid a confrontation"; "head off a confrontation"; "avert a strike"
(synonym) debar, obviate, deflect, avert, head off, stave off, fend off, ward off
(hypernym) prevent, forestall, foreclose, preclude, forbid
3. refrain from doing something; "She refrains from calling her therapist too often"; "He should avoid publishing his wife's memoires"
(hyponym) fiddle, shirk, shrink from, goldbrick
4. refrain from certain foods or beverages; "I keep off drugs"; "During Ramadan, Muslims avoid tobacco during the day"
(synonym) keep off
(hypernym) abstain, refrain, desist
5. declare invalid; "The contract was annulled"; "void a plea"
(synonym) invalidate, annul, quash, void, nullify
(hypernym) cancel, strike down
(hyponym) break

(v. i.)
To retire; to withdraw.
  

(v. i.)
To become void or vacant.
  

(a.)
To quit or evacuate; to withdraw from.
  

(a.)
To make void; to annul or vacate; to refute.
  

(a.)
To keep away from; to keep clear of; to endeavor no to meet; to shun; to abstain from; as, to avoid the company of gamesters.
  

(a.)
To get rid of.
  

(a.)
To empty.
  

(a.)
To emit or throw out; to void; as, to avoid excretions.
  

(a.)
To defeat or evade; to invalidate. Thus, in a replication, the plaintiff may deny the defendant's plea, or confess it, and avoid it by stating new matter.
  

verb
to try not to do something such as not to eat a particular food; you must try to avoid overexerting yourself; a patient on this diet should avoid alcohol