"avert" in the verb sense
1. debar, forefend, forfend, obviate, deflect, avert, head off, stave off, fend off, avoid, ward off
prevent the occurrence of prevent from happening
"Let's avoid a confrontation"
"head off a confrontation"
"avert a strike"
2. avert, turn away
turn away or aside
"They averted their eyes when the King entered"
Source: WordNet® (An amazing lexical database of English)
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