Adjacent Words

Elude definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

ELU'DE, v.t. [L. eludo; e and ludo, to play. The Latin
verb forms lusi, lusum; and this may be the Heb. to deride.
1. To escape; to evade; to avoid by artifice, stratagem, wiles, deceit, or dexterity; as, to elude an enemy; to elude the sight; to elude an officer; to elude detection; to elude vigilance; to elude the force of an argument; to elude a blow or stroke.
2. To mock by an unexpected escape.
Me gentle Delia beckons from the plain,
Then, hid in shades, eludes her eager swain.
3. To escape being seen; to remain unseen or undiscovered. The cause of magnetism has hitherto eluded the researches of philosophers.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: escape, either physically or mentally; "The thief eluded the police"; "This difficult idea seems to evade her"; "The event evades explanation" [syn: elude, evade, bilk]
2: be incomprehensible to; escape understanding by; "What you are seeing in him eludes me" [syn: elude, escape]
3: avoid or try to avoid fulfilling, answering, or performing (duties, questions, or issues); "He dodged the issue"; "she skirted the problem"; "They tend to evade their responsibilities"; "he evaded the questions skillfully" [syn: hedge, fudge, evade, put off, circumvent, parry, elude, skirt, dodge, duck, sidestep]

Merriam Webster's

transitive verb (eluded; eluding) Etymology: Latin eludere, from e- + ludere to play — more at ludicrous Date: 1667 1. to avoid adroitly ; evade <the mice eluded the traps> <managed to elude capture> 2. to escape the perception, understanding, or grasp of <subtlety simply eludes them> <victory continued to elude us> 3. defy 4 <it eludes explanation> Synonyms: see escape

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.tr. 1 escape adroitly from (a danger, difficulty, pursuer, etc.); dodge. 2 avoid compliance with (a law, request, etc.) or fulfilment of (an obligation). 3 (of a fact, solution, etc.) escape from or baffle (a person's memory or understanding). Derivatives: elusion n. elusory adj. Etymology: L eludere elus- (as E-, ludere play)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Elude E*lude", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Eluded; p. pr. & vb. n. Eluding.] [L. eludere, elusum; e + ludere to play: cf. F. ['e]luder. See Ludicrous.] To avoid slyly, by artifice, stratagem, or dexterity; to escape from in a covert manner; to mock by an unexpected escape; to baffle; as, to elude an officer; to elude detection, inquiry, search, comprehension; to elude the force of an argument or a blow. Me gentle Delia beckons from the plain, Then, hid in shades, eludes he eager swain. --Pope. The transition from fetichism to polytheism seems a gradual process of which the stages elude close definition. --Tylor. Syn: To evade; avoid; escape; shun; eschew; flee; mock; baffle; frustrate; foil.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(eludes, eluding, eluded) 1. If something that you want eludes you, you fail to obtain it. At 62, Brian found the celebrity and status that had eluded him for so long. VERB: no passive, V n 2. If you elude someone or something, you avoid them or escape from them. He eluded the police for 13 years. VERB: V n 3. If a fact or idea eludes you, you do not succeed in understanding it, realizing it, or remembering it. The appropriate word eluded him. = escape VERB: no passive, V n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Escape, evade, avoid, shun, get away from, steal away from, slip from, slip away from. 2. Baffle, frustrate, foil, balk, thwart, disconcert, disappoint, escape (notice or inquiry), remain concealed from.

Moby Thesaurus

avoid, baffle, balk, beg, bewilder, bilk, blast, brave, challenge, checkmate, circumvent, confound, confront, confuse, contravene, counter, counteract, countermand, counterwork, cross, dash, deceive, defeat, defy, destroy, discomfit, disconcert, discountenance, dish, disrupt, ditch, dodge, double, duck, escape, eschew, evade, flee, flummox, fly, foil, frustrate, get around, get away from, get out of, get round, give the runaround, give the slip, go one better, knock the chocks, nonplus, outfigure, outflank, outgeneral, outguess, outmaneuver, outplay, outreach, outsmart, outwit, overreach, pass the buck, perplex, puzzle, ruin, sabotage, scotch, shake, shake off, shuffle out of, shun, shy, skirt, spike, spoil, stonewall, stump, thwart, upset, victimize