avert

verb

ə-ˈvərt 

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

Synonyms of avert

• prevent

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

Its networking and optical connectivity chips function as the lifeline of modern data centers, averting bottlenecks as inference workloads expand across clusters. —Trefis Team, Forbes.com, 23 Jan. 2026

And with just over a week before the deadline to avert a partial government shutdown, and the House set to be away on recess next week, the Senate will have no option but to approve the package — or prompt a shutdown. —Kaia Hubbard, CBS News, 22 Jan. 2026

The crisis was averted and the B’s scored the next four goals to win going away. —Steve Conroy, Boston Herald, 22 Jan. 2026

City officials began the program initially to prevent LAPD civilian workers from being laid off, which was part of larger efforts that closed a $1 billion deficit and averted thousands of layoffs. —City News Service, Daily News, 22 Jan. 2026

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

Phrases Containing avert

• avert one's eyes

Rhymes for avert

• alert
• assert
• dessert
• divert
• evert
• exert
• inert
• insert
• invert
• nightshirt
• overt
• revert

Kids Definition

avert

verb

ə-ˈvərt 

1

: to turn away

avert one's eyes

2

: to keep from happening

averted an accident