eschew

  • 1Eschew — Es*chew , v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Eshewed}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Eshewing}.] [OF. eschever, eschiver, eskiver, F. esquiver, fr. OHG. sciuhen, G. scheuen; akin to E. sky. See {Shy}, a.] 1. To shun; to avoid, as something wrong, or from a feeling of… …

    The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • 2eschew — (v.) mid 14c., from O.Fr. eschiver shun, eschew, avoid, dispense with, from Frankish *skiuhan dread, avoid, shun, from P.Gmc. *skeukhwaz (Cf. O.H.G. sciuhen to avoid, escape, Ger. scheuen to fear, shun, shrink from, scheu shy, timid ); see SHY… …

    Etymology dictionary

  • 3eschew — I verb abstain, avoid, back away from, boycott, bypass, deny oneself, do without, elude, evade, flee from, forbear, forswear, give a wide berth, have nothing to do with, keep at a distance, keep away, keep clear of, keep out of the way, make… …

    Law dictionary

  • 4eschew — vb 1 shun, elude, avoid, evade, *escape Antonyms: choose Contrasted words: *adopt, embrace, espouse: *incur, contract, catch 2 forbear, *forgo, abnegate, sacrifice Analogous words …

    New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • 5eschew — [v] have nothing to do with abandon, abjure, abstain, avoid, double, duck, elude, evade, forgo, forswear, give up, have no truck with*, let well enough alone*, not touch, refrain, renounce, sacrifice, shun, shy, shy away from, steer clear of*,… …

    New thesaurus

  • 6eschew — ► VERB ▪ abstain from. DERIVATIVES eschewal noun. ORIGIN Old French eschiver, related to SHY(Cf. ↑shyness) …

    English terms dictionary

  • 7eschew — [es cho͞o′] vt. [ME eschewen < Anglo Fr eschuer < OFr eschiver < OHG sciuhan, to fear: akin to SHY1] to keep away from (something harmful or disliked); shun; avoid; abstain from eschewal n …

    English World dictionary

  • 8eschew — [14] Eschew is ultimately of Germanic origin, although it reached English via French. Its remote ancestor is prehistoric Germanic *skeukhwaz, source also of English shy. A verb based on this, *skeukhwan, was borrowed into Vulgar Latin as *skīvāre …

    The Hutchinson dictionary of word origins

  • 9eschew — UK [ɪsˈtʃuː] / US [esˈtʃu] verb [transitive] Word forms eschew : present tense I/you/we/they eschew he/she/it eschews present participle eschewing past tense eschewed past participle eschewed very formal to avoid doing something, especially for… …

    English dictionary

  • 10eschew — [14] Eschew is ultimately of Germanic origin, although it reached English via French. Its remote ancestor is prehistoric Germanic *skeukhwaz, source also of English shy. A verb based on this, *skeukhwan, was borrowed into Vulgar Latin as *skīvāre …

    Word origins