How to Use avert in a Sentence

avert

verb
  • He sped up and averted an accident.
  • The diplomatic talks narrowly averted a war.
  • Both sides have worked throughout the week to avert the 24-hour strike.
    — Oliver Darcy, CNN, 7 Dec. 2022
  • But for now, there is still a chance to avert the worst outcome.
    — Alex De Waal, Foreign Affairs, 17 June 2024
  • Yet the decree was soon averted in the most Trumpian of ways: with a deal.
    — Calvin Woodward, Chicago Tribune, 30 Mar. 2025
  • These are the sparks that land Tell’s past back in his lap and leave him no room to avert his eyes.
    — K. Austin Collins, Rolling Stone, 23 Sep. 2021
  • The Bank of England had to intervene to avert a wider crash.
    — Julia Horowitz, CNN, 9 Dec. 2022
  • The agreement, reached late on April 26, averted a strike.
    — Eric D. Lawrence, Detroit Free Press, 6 May 2024
  • Many Israelis have preferred to avert their gaze from the rage at their doorstep.
    — Roger Cohen, New York Times, 20 Nov. 2023
  • To avert a default, the House and the Senate must pass the deal and send it to Biden for his signature.
    — Jim Tankersley, BostonGlobe.com, 28 May 2023
  • The bill that could avert a government shutdown heads to the Senate.
    — Elizabeth Robinson, NBC News, 15 Nov. 2023
  • The worst-case scenarios appeared to have been averted, at least in the first hours of the blackout.
    — Rob Picheta, CNN Money, 29 Apr. 2025
  • Is this the world’s last best chance to avert climate disaster?
    — NBC News, 11 Nov. 2021
  • Nor does Kennedy avert her eyes from the Troubles, the era during which her novel is set.
    — Lily Meyer, The Atlantic, 6 Dec. 2022
  • The union hopes to reach a contract and avert a potential strike before Aug. 1.
    — Shera Avi-Yonah, Washington Post, 8 June 2023
  • India hopes to avert a repeat of that, but prospects appear dim.
    — Matthew Lee, ajc, 2 Mar. 2023
  • In the last spending bill, some Democrats had to make concessions to avert a shutdown.
    — Ken Tran, USA TODAY, 15 Nov. 2022
  • That opens the path for other Democrats to do so and avert a government shutdown.
    — Domenico Montanaro, NPR, 14 Mar. 2025
  • The two sides reached an agreement this week, averting a proxy battle.
    — Lila MacLellan, Fortune, 26 Oct. 2024
  • The crisis soon was averted after Long signed a new lease.
    — Michael Deeds, Idaho Statesman, 17 Apr. 2025
  • While an agreement over benefits could avert a strike, the two sides still would have much work to do.
    — Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times, 30 Nov. 2022
  • Macron shuttled from Moscow to Kyiv in a bid to ease tensions and avert a conflict.
    — WSJ, 9 Feb. 2022
  • Publicly, Biden aides have said the only way to avert a crisis is for Congress to act.
    — Jim Tankersley, New York Times, 2 May 2023
  • More than anything else, that is what put us on track to avert a downward spiral.
    — New York Times, 18 May 2021
  • Epstein took a plea deal in state court to avert federal charges.
    — James Hill, ABC News, 25 June 2021
  • The planet is getting warmer, and the window to avert the worst of climate change is getting smaller.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 11 Aug. 2021
  • For now, Dan has allowed the country to avert a disaster.
    — Veronica Anghel, Foreign Affairs, 21 May 2025
  • Here are four things that can be done to avert this disaster: States should tune up databases now.
    — Gerard Vitti, STAT, 9 Apr. 2022
  • Fain announced Wednesday night that the union and Rolls-Royce reached a tentative agreement to avert a strike.
    — Brittany Carloni, IndyStar, 2 July 2025
  • Local officials are facing questions about their actions in the years and hours before the catastrophic flooding hit central Texas last week, and whether more could have been done to avert the tragedy.
    — Jade Walker, CNN Money, 8 July 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'avert.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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