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Sunday March 21, 2010

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eschew [es-CHOO]

transitive verb

1. To shun; to avoid, as something wrong, or from a feeling of distaste.

• And though the Surly Goat may lure in beer aficionados with its Pliny supplies and other catch-it-while-it-lasts brews, it will always eschew becoming a scene. It's there to offer a respite to West Hollywood denizens tired of getting on heels or some Prada button-down whenever they want to have a drink.
  Margaret Wappler, "NIGHT LIFE; Hopping in WeHo", Los Angeles Times, Mar 12, 2010
• When her children (two daughters, their spouses and four grandchildren) drop by, she can readily serve veggie burgers and a shrimp dish for those who eschew meat, plus pull off a Chinese meal for the rest in no time.
  Lee McCall, "Avoid a kitchen disaster with well-stocked pantry", Sarasota Herald Tribune, Mar 10, 2010
• People who don't want to live, people who would sooner hibernate than feel intensely, will be wise to eschew literature. They had better, to quote from the finest passage in a fine poem, "sit around and eat blackberries." The sight of a "common bush afire with God" might upset their nerves.
  Arnold Bennett (1867 - 1931) An English novelist. Literary Taste: How to Form It (1913)

Origin of the Word

Eschew, approximately 1300, derives from Old French eschiver, from Germanic origin, skeukhwaz.