avert a crisis

Meaning

To prevent a highly dangerous, difficult, or disastrous situation from happening. It implies taking timely, decisive action just before things go completely wrong.

Examples

• Quick action by the PR team managed to avert a crisis after the sensitive document leaked.

  Quick action by the PR team managed to avert a crisis after the sensitive document leaked.

• By negotiating a compromise at the last minute, they were able to avert a crisis.

  By negotiating a compromise at the last minute, they were able to avert a crisis.

• The pilot's quick thinking averted a crisis on the runway.

  The pilot's quick thinking averted a crisis on the runway.

• We need to act now if we want to avert a financial crisis in the next quarter.

  We need to act now if we want to avert a financial crisis in the next quarter.

• A timely intervention by the mediator helped avert a crisis between the two parties.

  A timely intervention by the mediator helped avert a crisis between the two parties.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ We need to avert the crisis that is happening right now.

  ✓ We need to manage the crisis that is happening right now.

  'Avert' means to prevent something from happening in the first place. Once a crisis is already underway, you cannot avert it; you must manage, resolve, or handle it.

• ✗ She averted from the crisis by leaving the room.

  ✓ She averted a crisis by leaving the room.

  'Avert' is a transitive verb and does not take the preposition 'from' when meaning to prevent something.

Related Expressions

Practice

• The government took emergency measures to ___.

  💡 Prevent a major disaster from occurring.

  Show answer

  avert a crisis

• Thanks to her quick intervention, we managed to ___.

  💡 Stop a terrible situation before it happened.

  Show answer

  avert a crisis