elude
[ih-lood]
- to avoid or escape by speed, cleverness, trickery, etc.; evade: to elude capture.
- to escape the understanding, perception, or appreciation of: The answer eludes me.
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Origin of elude
Synonym study
1. See escape.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for elude
Contemporary Examples
Elsewhere, she tells her inamorata, “It does not matter if you elude my arms/my dear, when thought alone can imprison you.”
Beautiful, daring and smart, Sophie managed to elude arrest on many occasions.
Meet 'The Queen of Thieves' Marm Mandelbaum, New York City's First Mob BossJ. North Conway
September 7, 2014
But Shailene Woodley, both onscreen and off, seems to elude quick characterization.
They would have assumed that they needed to get far out over an ocean to elude that.
They constantly move him from place to place, hoping to elude any U.S. efforts to find him, Hanif says.
U.S. Prisoner Bowe Bergdahl’s Failed Attempt to Escape From TalibanSami Yousafzai, Ron Moreau
December 7, 2011
Historical Examples
That I could elude Rima's keener eyes I doubted; but that did not trouble me.
Green MansionsW. H. Hudson
He knew her power; perhaps that was why his instinct had led him to elude it.
Cleo The MagnificentLouis Zangwill
This was to elude a successful German envelopment on their Louvain right.
The Baron was fixing his eyes on her and she tried to elude his gaze.
The Eternal CityHall Caine
That it was so vague as to elude the support of argument made it only the stronger.
Nostromo: A Tale of the SeaboardJoseph Conrad
elude
- to escape or avoid (capture, one's pursuers, etc), esp by cunning
- to avoid fulfilment of (a responsibility, obligation, etc); evade
- to escape discovery, or understanding by; bafflethe solution eluded her
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Word Origin
C16: from Latin ēlūdere to deceive, from lūdere to play
usage
Elude is sometimes wrongly used where allude is meant: he was alluding (not eluding ) to his previous visit to the city
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for elude
v.
1530s, "delude, make a fool of," from Latin eludere "escape from, make a fool of, win from at play," from ex- "out, away" (see ex-) + ludere "to play" (see ludicrous). Sense of "evade" is first recorded 1610s in a figurative sense, 1630s in a literal one. Related: Eluded; eludes; eluding.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper