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Webster 1913 Edition


Eschew

Es-chew′

,
Verb.
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
,
Adj.
]
1.
To shun; to avoid, as something wrong, or from a feeling of distaste; to keep one’s self clear of.
They must not only
eschew
evil, but do good.
Bp. Beveridge.
2.
To escape from; to avoid.
[Obs.]
He who obeys, destruction shall
eschew
.
Sandys.

Webster 1828 Edition


Eschew

ESCHEW'

,
Verb.
T.
To flee from; to shun; to avoid.
He who obeys, destruction shall eschew.
Job--feared God and eschewed evil. Job.1.

Definition 2024


eschew

eschew

English

Verb

eschew (third-person singular simple present eschews, present participle eschewing, simple past and past participle eschewed)

  1. (transitive, formal) To avoid; to shun, to shy away from.

Usage notes

  • The verb eschew is not normally applied to the avoidance or shunning of a person or physical object, but rather, only to the avoidance or shunning of an idea, concept, or other intangible.

Quotations

1599 1611 1927 2014
ME « 15th c. 16th c. 17th c. 18th c. 19th c. 20th c. 21st c.
  • 1599, William Shakespeare, The Merry Wives of Windsor
    What cannot be eschew’d must be embrac’d.
  • 1611, Bible (KJV), Peter-Chapter-3/#11 1 Peter 3:11:
    Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it.
  • 1927, H.P. Lovecraft, The Horror at Red Hook
    He could afford no servants, and would admit but few visitors to his absolute solitude; eschewing close friendships and receiving his rare acquaintances in one of the three ground-floor rooms which he kept in order.
  • 2014 November 14, Blake Bailey, “'Tennessee Williams,' by John Lahr [print version: Theatrical victory of art over life, International New York Times, 18 November 2014, p. 13]”, in The New York Times:
    [S]he [Edwina, mother of Tennessee Williams] was indeed Amanda [Wingfield, character in Williams' play The Glass Menagerie] in the flesh: a doughty chatterbox from Ohio who adopted the manner of a Southern belle and eschewed both drink and sex to the greatest extent possible.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

References

  1. 1 2 Concise Oxford English Dictionary
  2. the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
  3. MacMillan's British dictionary
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, eleventh edition
  5. Dictionary.com's (primary) dictionary
  6. 1 2 Keynon and Knott's A Pronouncing Dictionary of American English
  7. Collins English Dictionary, tenth edition
  8. John Walker's A Critical Pronuncing Dictionary and Expositor of the English Language, which quotes James Elphinston, who also preferred the spelling eskew