elude

[ih-lood]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR elude ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), e·lud·ed, e·lud·ing.

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.

Nearby words

Origin of elude

1530–40; < Latin ēlūdere to deceive, evade, equivalent to ē- e-¹ + lūdere to play, deceive

Related formse·lud·er, nounun·e·lud·ed, adjective

Can be confusedallowed allude aloud elude

Synonym study

1. See escape.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for elude

Elsewhere, she tells her inamorata, “It does not matter if you elude my arms/my dear, when thought alone can imprison you.”
Sor Juana: Mexico’s Most Erotic Poet and Its Most Dangerous Nun|Katie Baker|November 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
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 Boss|J. North Conway|September 7, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But Shailene Woodley, both onscreen and off, seems to elude quick characterization.
Shailene Woodley Is Hollywood’s It Girl Next Door|Teo Bugbee|June 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST
They would have assumed that they needed to get far out over an ocean to elude that.
Malaysia’s Sinister Timeline for Flight 370 Unravels|Clive Irving|March 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST

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 Taliban|Sami Yousafzai, Ron Moreau|December 7, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Though so refined as to elude the force of material remedies, some may however think that it may be reasoned with.
Observations on Madness and Melancholy|John Haslam
The things might have been alive and spiteful, so persistently did they elude every wile.
Ralph Denham's Adventures in Burma|George Norway
It answers to the impatient need of man to explain at once things which elude his comprehension.
The Churches and Modern Thought|Philip Vivian
Hewson had not been able, when she touched upon this point, to elude the keen eye with which she read his silent thought.
Questionable Shapes|William Dean Howells
He managed to elude his fellow-countrymen as it happened, but it was "touch-and-go" with him.
The adventures of Kimble Bent|James Cowan

British Dictionary definitions for elude

elude

verb (tr)

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

Derived Formseluder, nounelusion (ɪˈluːʒən), noun

Word Origin for elude

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

elude

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.

elude

verb (used with object), e·lud·ed, e·lud·ing.

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Nearby words

Origin of elude

Synonym study

Examples from the Web for elude

elude

verb (tr)

Word Origin for elude

usage

elude