avert
Stop from happening
To avert is to turn away or prevent.
You avert your eyes or gaze from something you don't want to see.
More commonly, avert means to ward off or prevent something undesirable: avert disaster, avert a crisis, avert war.
The word suggests deflecting what's coming rather than stopping it directly.
Prevent by prior action
- precludeMake impossible in advance
- obviatePrevent by anticipation
- stave offDelay or prevent
- ward offActively prevent approach
thwart · head off · fend off · prevent · stop · block · halt · arrest
Redirect one's gaze
- glance awayQuickly look elsewhere
- deflectTurn from course
- shiftMovement or work period
- redirectSend in new direction
turn aside · cast down · lower · drop · look down · recoil · flinch · wince
forestall
Prevent by prior action
ward off · thwart · head off · fend off · prevent · stop · block · halt · arrest · counteract
look away
Redirect one's gaze
- glance awayQuickly look elsewhere
- deflectTurn from course
- shiftMovement or work period
turn aside · redirect · cast down · lower · drop · look down · recoil · flinch · wince
sidestep
Evade by moving aside
dodge · shun · eschew · bypass · skirt · duck · parry · circumnavigate · steer clear of · abstain
shield
Handheld defensive armor
shelter · screen · cover · protect · secure · insulate · buffer · fortify · preserve · spare
- preemptive actionspreemptive strike, forestall, preventive measure, first strike, early action
- avoiding eye contactcast down, glance away
- counteractneutralize, offset, counterbalance, cancel out, negate
- embarrassmentembarrassed, blush, humiliated, mortify, mortified
- preventionflu shot, prevent, flu shots, protect, vaccines
- interveneintervene, step in, intercede, mediate, arbitrate
avertcause
What produces an effect
bring about · trigger · precipitate · induce · provoke
- food aversionRejection of specific edibles
- risk aversePreferring certainty over gambles
- aversion therapyTreatment pairing unwanted behavior with discomfort
- averted gazeDeliberately not looking
- averting eyesDirecting sight elsewhere intentionally
- risk aversionPreference for certainty
aversion, averse, averted, averting, averts, aversive, avertable, averter