eschew

tr.v., -chewed, -chew·ing, -chews.
To avoid; shun. See synonyms at escape.

[Middle English escheuen, from Old French eschivir, of Germanic origin, akin to SHY¹ .]

eschewal es·chew'al (-əl) n.

A Vermont high school teacher is in hot water for editorializing while ostensibly giving his students a test, which is a practice the school board thinks he should have eschewed:

"The quiz asked students to pick the proper words to complete sentences. One example: 'I wish Bush would be (coherent, eschewed) for once during a speech, but there are theories that his everyday diction charms the below-average mind, hence insuring him Republican votes.' 'Coherent' was considered the right answer."

Link: Teacher's vocabulary quiz slams Bush, GOP

Posted November 27, 2005.

See our Word Overheard blog to see interesting uses of strange words.

verb

To keep away from: avoid, burke, bypass, circumvent, dodge, duck, elude, escape, evade, get around, shun. Idioms: fight shy of, give a wide berth to, have no truck with, keep/stay/steer/clear of. See seek/avoid.

v

Definition: have nothing to do with
Antonyms: embrace, like, love

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IN BRIEF: To avoid.

I always eschew brussels sprouts because I do not like their taste.

Dansk (Danish)
v. tr. - undgå, holde sig fra

Nederlands (Dutch)
schuwen

Français (French)
v. tr. - éviter (arch), s'abstenir de (vin d'alcool), fuir (la tentation)

Deutsch (German)
v. - meiden

Ελληνική (Greek)
v. - (απαρχ.) διαφεύγω, διαλανθάνω

Italiano (Italian)
schivare, evitare

Português (Portuguese)
v. - evitar, fugir

Русский (Russian)
избегать, сторониться, отойти, воздерживаться от

Español (Spanish)
v. tr. - esquivar, evitar, evadir

Svenska (Swedish)
v. - undvika, avhålla sig från

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
避开, 远避

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
v. tr. - 避開, 遠避

한국어 (Korean)
v. tr. - 피하다, 삼가다

日本語 (Japanese)
v. - 避ける

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(فعل) يتحاشى, يتجنب‏

עברית (Hebrew)
v. tr. - ‮נמנע מ-, התרחק מ-‬

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