What does the world avail mean?
'Avail' means 'use', either as a verb or a noun.To avail oneself of something means to use it, for example ' I have an umbrella if you wish to avail yourself of it' - means 'I have an umbrella if you'd like to use it'.In its noun form, it can be seen in the example, 'He threw water over the burning car, but to no avail', means ' he threw water over the burning car, but it was no use'.Hope that makes sense.