avoid (someone or something) like the plague

avoid (someone or something) like the plague

To consciously stay away from someone or something. I didn't do my homework my last night, so I'm avoiding my teacher like the plague. My dog is terrified of cats and avoids them like the plague.
See also: avoid, like, plague
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

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 someone/something like the plague

If you avoid someone or something like the plague, you do everything possible to avoid them. I would avoid him like the plague when his wife was around. The athlete must avoid all extra sugar like the plague. Note: The plague is bubonic plague, a disease which killed over 50 million people in Europe and Asia during the 14th century and was referred to as the Black Death.
See also: avoid, like, plague, someone, something
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.

avoid somebody/something like the ˈplague

(informal) avoid somebody/something completely: It was the sort of restaurant that I would normally have avoided like the plague.
A plague is an infectious disease that kills a lot of people.
See also: avoid, like, plague, somebody, something
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • avoid like the plague
  • avoid somebody/something like the plague
  • avoid someone/something like the plague
  • dog ate my homework
  • dog ate my homework, the
  • the dog ate my homework
  • terrify or an animal out of
  • ate
  • suck (someone or something) into (something)
  • suck into