Elude

Pronunciation

Origin

From Latin ēlūdō ("evade, elude"), from ē ("out of"), short form of ex, + lūdō ("play; trick").

Full definition of elude

Verb

1. (transitive) To evade, or escape from someone or something, especially by using cunning or skill.
• 1748. David Hume. Enquiries concerning the human understanding and concerning the principles of moral. London: Oxford University Press, 1973. § 26.Thus the observation of human blindness and weakness is the result of all philosophy, and meets us at every turn, in spite of our endeavours to elude or avoid it.
2. (transitive) To shake off a pursuer; to give someone the slip.
• 2012, December 29, Paul Doyle, Arsenal's Theo Walcott hits hat-trick in thrilling victory over Newcastle, Podolski gave Walcott a chance to further embellish Arsenal's first-half performance when he eluded James Perch and slipped the ball through to the striker.
3. (transitive) To escape understanding of; to be incomprehensible to.

Related terms

• allude
• delude
• illude