- 1avert something to prevent something bad or dangerous from happening A disaster was narrowly averted. He did his best to avert suspicion. Talks are taking place in an attempt to avert a strike.
Definitions on the go
Look up any word in the dictionary offline, anytime, anywhere with the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary app.
- 2avert your eyes, gaze, face (from something) to turn your eyes, etc. away from something that you do not want to see She averted her eyes from the terrible scene in front of her.
avert
verbNAmE//əˈvərt//
Verb Forms present simple I / you / we / they avert he / she / it averts
past simple averted
-ing form averting
Check pronunciation: avert