evade
verb/ɪˈveɪd/
Etymology From Middle French évader, from Latin ēvādō (“to pass or go over; flee”), from ē (“out of, from”) + vādō (“to go; walk”). See also wade.
1
To get away from by cunning; to avoid by using dexterity, subterfuge, address, or ingenuity; to cleverly escape from.
- He evaded his opponent's blows.
- The robbers evaded the police.
4 more examples
- to evade the force of an argument
- The heathen had a method, more truly their own, of evading the Christian miracles.1847, Richard Chenevix Trench, Notes on the Miracles of Our Lord:
- “Evading” is moving through ground occupied by an opponent without trying to knock him down. You can attempt this as part of any maneuver that allows movement, provided you can move fast enough to go past your foe – not just up to him.2004, “Moving Through Other Characters”, in GURPS Basic Set: Campaigns, page 368:
- If someone tries to evade you from the front (see Evading, p. B368) and you have a melee weapon that can parry, you may roll against weapon skill instead of DX in the Contest. You keep him from evading if you win or tie2007, “Obstruction”, in GURPS Martial Arts, page 106:
2
To escape; to slip away; — sometimes with from.
- Evading from perils.1622, Francis, Lord Verulam, Viscount St. Alban [i.e. Francis Bacon], The Historie of the Raigne of King Henry the Seventh, […], London: […] W[illiam] Stansby for Matthew Lownes, and William Barret, →OCLC:
- Unarmed they might / Have easily, as spirits evaded swift / By quick contraction or remove.1667, John Milton, “Book VI”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
3
To attempt to escape; to practice artifice or sophistry, for the purpose of eluding.
- The ministers of God are not to evade and take refuge any of these ... ways.1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London:
- Synonyms
- equivocate, shuffle, dodge, end-run, sidestep, give the go-by, give someone the runaround
- Related terms
- prevaricate