A making vald, or of no effect; annulling, cancelling; escaping or evading. In English ecclesiastical law. The term describes the condition of a benefice when it has no incumbent In parliamentary language, avoidance of a decision signifies evading or superseding a question, or escaping the coming to a decision upon a pending question. Holthouse. In pleading. The allegation or statement of new matter, in opposition to a former pleading, which, admitting the facts alleged in such former pleading, shows cause why they should not have their ordinary legal effect. Mahaiwe Bank v. Douglass, 31 Conn. 175; Cooper v. Tappan, 9 Wis. 366; Meadows v. Insurance Co., 62 Iowa, 387, 17 N. W. 600; Uri v. Hirsch (C. C.) 123 Fed. 570.
