Definition of "shirk" [shirk]

• To avoid or neglect (a duty or responsibility). (verb-transitive)
• To avoid work or duty. (verb-intransitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "She doesn't shirk from the realities that surround the economy, but neither does she give in to those who always seem to see the doom and gloom, rather than the shimmer of hope."
• "First and foremost - tell a time travel story that does not shirk from a confrontation with the paradoxes."
• "Never one to shirk from a challenge, I replied: Some friends of mine decided to remodel their kitchen."