avoid like the plague, to
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.
See also: avoid, like, plague
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
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.
See also: avoid, like, plague
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
avoid like the plague, to
To stay away from, assiduously shun. The scourge of western Europe on numerous occasions, the plague, although poorly understood, was known to be contagious even in the time of St. Jerome (a.d. 345– 420), who wrote, “Avoid, as you would the plague, a clergyman who is also a man of business.”
See also: avoid, like
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
- keep an eye on, to
- bottom of it, at the/get to the
- palm off, to
- (not) give a fig
- (not) care a fig
- cramp someone's style, to
- dawn on (someone), to
- go to one's head, to
- catch (someone) with his pants down, to
- save for a rainy day, to