avoiding

The word “avoiding” means the act of staying away from or steering clear of something; avoidance. In plain terms, the -ing form of avoid, used as a noun — keeping away from something.

“Avoiding” is pronounced uh-VOY-dihng (/əˈvɔɪdɪŋ/ in IPA).

Here is “avoiding” used in a sentence: “Avoiding the subject only made the argument worse.”

“Avoiding” is a noun.

“Avoiding” is a fairly common word in modern English.

No — avoid is followed by a gerund, never an infinitive, so the correct pattern is 'avoiding doing something': 'she avoids driving at night.' 'Avoid to drive' is a common learner error. For the noun idea, plain 'avoidance' is usually more natural than 'the avoiding of.'

Avoiding is simply staying away from or steering clear of something. Evading adds cunning or escape from something you are supposed to face, which is why the distinction matters in tax law: tax avoidance means legally arranging your affairs to reduce tax, while tax evasion means illegally escaping tax that is owed. Evading almost always sounds more negative.

Avoiding someone means arranging not to encounter them at all — leaving early, taking a different route, staying out of their way. Ignoring someone means being in their presence, or seeing their messages, and deliberately taking no notice. You can only ignore what is in front of you; avoiding keeps it from getting there.

Avoiding means keeping yourself away from something that exists or might happen: you avoid traffic by leaving early. Preventing means stopping something from happening at all, to anyone: engineers prevent accidents by design. You avoid a problem for yourself; you prevent it from occurring.