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Rid vs Avoid - What's the difference?

rid | avoid |

As verbs the difference between rid and avoid

is that rid is to free from something or rid can be (obsolete) (ride) while avoid is to keep away from; to keep clear of; to endeavor not to meet; to shun; to abstain from.

As an adjective rid

is released from an obligation, problem, etc (usually followed by "of").

rid

English

Etymology 1

Fusion of (etyl) . More at redd.

Adjective

(-)
  • released from an obligation, problem, etc. (usually followed by "of")
  • I’m glad to be rid of that stupid nickname.

    Verb

  • To free from something.
  • We're trying to rid the world of poverty.
    1170', King Henry II (offhand remark) — "Will no one ' rid me of this troublesome priest?"
  • * 2014 , Jacob Steinberg, " Wigan shock Manchester City in FA Cup again to reach semi-finals", The Guardian , 9 March 2014:
  • All the billions in the world and Manchester City still cannot rid themselves of the most persistent thorn in their side.
    Derived terms
    * get rid of

    Etymology 2

    Verb

    (head)
  • (obsolete) (ride)
  • * Thackeray
  • He rid to the end of the village, where he alighted.

    avoid

    English

    Verb

  • To keep away from; to keep clear of; to endeavor not to meet; to shun; to abstain from.
  • :I try to avoid the company of gamblers.
  • *1526 , Bible , tr. William Tyndale, Matthew 4:
  • *:The devyllsayde unto hym: all these will I geve the, iff thou wilt faull doune and worship me. Then sayde Jesus unto hym. Avoyde Satan.
  • *Milton
  • *:What need a man forestall his date of grief, / And run to meet what he would most avoid ?
  • *Macaulay
  • *:He carefully avoided every act which could goad them into open hostility.
  • *{{quote-news, year=2012, date=June 19, author=Phil McNulty, work=BBC Sport
  • , title= England 1-0 Ukraine , passage=England could have met world and European champions Spain but that eventuality was avoided by Sweden's 2-0 win against France, and Rooney's first goal in a major tournament since scoring twice in the 4-2 victory over Croatia in Lisbon at Euro 2004.}}
  • (obsolete) To make empty; to clear.
  • :(Wyclif)
  • To make void, to annul; to refute (especially a contract).
  • *Spenser
  • *:How can these grants of the king's be avoided ?
  • (legal) 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.
  • :(Blackstone)
  • (obsolete) To emit or throw out; to void; as, to avoid excretions.
  • :(Sir Thomas Browne)
  • (obsolete) To leave, evacuate; to leave as empty, to withdraw or come away from.
  • *:
  • *:Anone they encountred to gyders / and he with the reed shelde smote hym soo hard that he bare hym ouer to the erthe / There with anone came another Knyght of the castel / and he was smyten so sore that he auoyded his fadel
  • *Francis Bacon
  • *:Six of us only stayed, and the rest avoided the room.
  • (obsolete) To get rid of.
  • :(Shakespeare)
  • (obsolete) To retire; to withdraw, depart, go away.
  • (obsolete) To become void or vacant.
  • Usage notes

    * This is a catenative verb that takes the gerund (-ing) . See

    Derived terms

    * avoid like the plague