af to express to get rid of

[logicgate]

It seems that the sentence

Ze wilden van het probleem af door het te negeren.

means

They want get rid of the problem by ignoring it.

Does "af" alone means getting rid of something? Would you have other examples were af is used this way? Or is "af" used in conjunction with "wilden", a kind of compound verb "abwillen"? What are then other compound verbs with prefix "af" with the meaning of getting rid of?

[BrutallyFrank]

'Af' in itself doesn't mean to get rid of. In this case it means moving away from something.

It's usually a combination with a verb:
- van af geraken
- van af komen
- van af zijn
- van af willen

Over time we dropped the verb

[LeSNT2]

In addition to BrutallyFrank: A lot of verbs can use 'af' (then it becomes a seperable verb). The meaning of 'af' can differ. The meaning of the verb without 'af' and with 'af' can also be very different.

A few examples:

lopen = to walk (Ik loop naar de supermarkt.)
aflopen = to expire (De bedenktermijn loopt af op 20 juni.)

geven = to give (Ik geef Sara een cadeau.)
afgeven = to deliver (De bezorger geeft het pakket af.)
afgeven = to release (De kleding geeft af, nu heb ik vlekken op de andere kleding door de wasmachine.)

blijven = to stay (Ik blijf nog een uurtje.)
afblijven = hands off (Blijf van mijn brood af!)

These are just a few examples, there are many verbs that can use 'af' and then get a completely different meaning. Just like there are other prepositions a verb can use to get a completely different meaning. That's the joy of Dutch