pat palaio

[pat palaio]

Can the word "eschew" be used in the sense of "to shun a person"? I told my son that one can eschew ideas (e.g. Mark eschews violence.) or things (e.g. Athough he was a millionaire, he eschewed most of the luxuries of the rich), but NOT people (e.g. By hiding behind the low wall, she was able to eschew her pursuers). He does not believe me since there is not an example of how to use the word in the American Heritage Dictionary that we use. Please clarify this for us, and provide sample sentences if you can.

Thank you!

Pat Palaio

[Anglika]

eschew - • verb abstain from. [OED]

You can abstain from something, but not from someone. You can shun someone. The two words have a remote common derivation.

[pat palaio]

Thank you very much!

Pat Palaio