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- avoid like the plague
avoid like the plague
avoid someone or something like the plague
Fig. to ignore or keep away from someone or something totally. What's wrong with Bob? Everyone avoids him like the plague. I don't like opera. I avoid it like the plague.
avoid somebody/something like the plague
to keep far away from someone or something
When he was in high school, he avoided girls like the plague. Usage notes: usually said about someone or something you fear or do not like
Etymology: based on the literal meaning of the plague (a disease that spreads quickly and kills great numbers of people)
avoid somebody/something like the plague
to try very hard to avoid someone or something that you do not like
Usage notes: A plague is a serious disease which kills many people.
I'm not a fan of parties - in fact I avoid them like the plague. avoid like the plague
Evade or elude at any cost, shun. For example, Since Bob was taken into police custody, his friends have been avoiding him and his family like the plague . This seemingly modern expression dates from the Latin of the early Middle Ages, when Saint Jerome (a.d. 345-420) wrote, "Avoid, as you would the plague, a clergyman who is also a man of business." The plague, a deadly infectious disease in his day, has been largely wiped out, but the term remains current.