To Avoid
To Dodge
transitive verb, ichidan verb
Because the hiragana ends with an う sound, you know this word is a verb. The kanji itself means avoid or dodge and the verb vocab version is to avoid or to dodge!
The readings have slightly different meanings (さける for avoiding situations, and よける for physical dodging), so here's a mnemonic to help remember that:
You need to avoid people who drink sake (さけ). Why? Because when they get drunk you'll have to dodge their yo-yos (よ). Drunk people love to recklessly toss the ol' yo-yo around. So you either avoid the sake drinkers, or you dodge their yo-yos. It's one or the other.
明日車で母を東京の名所へ案内する予定なんだけど、渋滞をうまく避ける方法とか知らないよね？
I’m going to show my mother the famous sights of Tokyo by car tomorrow, so do you know any good ways to avoid the traffic?