Avoid
Avoid verb - To get or keep away from (as a responsibility) through cleverness or trickery.
Shoulder
Shoulder verb - To take to or upon oneself.
Usage example: agreed to shoulder the burden of caring for their elderly father
Nearby Words: shouldered, shouldering
Common collocations
| work | avoid work | shoulder work |
| responsibility | avoid responsibility | shoulder responsibility |
| punishment | avoid punishment | shoulder punishment |
| consequences | avoid consequences | shoulder consequences |
| Other words: bullets, enemies. | ||
Both words in one sentence
- In the fourth case of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, Manfred Von Karma never had the bullet removed from his shoulder to avoid becoming a suspect in Gregory Edgeworth's death.
Source: Revealing Injury -
The problem with that idea is that the combination was entered by viewing the dial through a magnification lens specifically to avoid the problem of shoulder surfing.
Source: Safecracking -
Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: The Movie: In the game for the SNES, you could press the shoulder buttons to flip to the "back" or the "front" to avoid obstacles, such as in the very first level to avoid cars.
Source: 2½D
Cite this Source
Shoulder and Avoid. (2016). Retrieved 2026, August 14, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/avoid/shoulder
Avoid & Shoulder. N.p., 2016. Web. 14 Aug. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/avoid/shoulder>.
Shoulder or Avoid. 2016. Accessed August 14, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/avoid/shoulder.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "avoid" and "shoulder" have occurred on timeline