averted; averting; averts
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
John Gregory Dunne2
: 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
The vitamin C in the formula is delivered to the skin over the course of 12 hours, averting the risk of irritation from a sudden surge of actives, as antioxidants like niacinamide and pro-glutathione reinforce the skin barrier.
—Sophia Panych, Allure, 16 Sep. 2025
In another case, a fertilizer plant’s predictive analytics pilot delivered a 5× ROI in its first year by averting multiple days of lost production.
—Srishti Gupta, Interesting Engineering, 16 Sep. 2025
Instead of clearing forest, coffee is planted beneath native trees, thus preserving bird habitat and averting the climate emissions that come from cutting down mature forests.
—Marianne Krasny, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2025
What's much harder to measure is the number of shootings that have been averted.
—Cleo Krejci, jsonline.com, 16 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for avert
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Sophia Panych, Allure, 16 Sep. 2025
In another case, a fertilizer plant’s predictive analytics pilot delivered a 5× ROI in its first year by averting multiple days of lost production.
—Srishti Gupta, Interesting Engineering, 16 Sep. 2025
Instead of clearing forest, coffee is planted beneath native trees, thus preserving bird habitat and averting the climate emissions that come from cutting down mature forests.
—Marianne Krasny, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2025
What's much harder to measure is the number of shootings that have been averted.
—Cleo Krejci, jsonline.com, 16 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for avert
Cite this Entry
“Avert.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/avert. Accessed 19 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
avert
verb1
: to turn away
avert one's eyes
2
: to keep from happening
averted an accident
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