averted; averting; averts

transitive verb

1
: to turn away or aside (the eyes, one's gaze, etc.) in avoidance
I found the sight so grotesque that I had to avert my eyes …John Gregory Dunne
2
: to see coming and ward off : avoid
avert disaster

Examples of avert in a Sentence

He sped up and averted an accident. The diplomatic talks narrowly averted a war. an attempt to avert a strike at the plant
Recent Examples on the Web Meanwhile, there’s a diplomatic scramble to avert full-scale war between Israel and Lebanon. Miriam Berger, Washington Post, 12 Mar. 2024 Government Shutdown More Senate to vote on first government funding package to avoid shutdown Biden signs short-term funding bill to avert government shutdown Will there be a government shutdown? Caitlin Yilek, CBS News, 8 Mar. 2024 Read more:Congress passes short-term deal to avert partial government shutdown As the dust settled, everyone seemed to be a little miffed – Democrats with the end result, and Republicans with how the Biden administration went about it. Zachary Schermele, USA TODAY, 2 Mar. 2024 Democrats overwhelmingly voted to avert a partial shutdown. Democrat-Gazette Staff From Wire Reports, arkansasonline.com, 1 Mar. 2024 McConnell also announced yesterday in a joint statement with House Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House and Senate appropriations leads that Congress had reached a deal to extend current funding deadlines to avert a partial government shutdown tomorrow. Suzanne Nuyen, NPR, 29 Feb. 2024 There was better news for shareholders on Wednesday, when the company reached a tentative agreement with the Teamsters union in the United States, averting a strike of 5,000 workers who had been prepared to walk out at midnight Thursday. Hanna Ziady, CNN, 29 Feb. 2024 Even the employee who triple and quadruple checks their work cannot avert the occasional embarrassing error. Frayda Leibtag, Forbes, 29 Feb. 2024 If passed, the deal would avert a partial government shutdown slated to take effect on Friday. Louis Casiano, Fox News, 29 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'avert.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Middle French avertir, from Latin avertere, from ab- + vertere to turn — more at worth

First Known Use

circa 1563, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of avert was circa 1563

Dictionary Entries Near avert

Cite this Entry

“Avert.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/avert. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

avert

verb
1
: to turn away
avert one's eyes
2
: to keep from happening
averted an accident

More from Merriam-Webster on avert

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