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evade

American  
[ih-veyd] / ɪˈveɪd /

verb (used with object)

evades, present (3rd person singular) evaded, past participle, past evading present participle
  1. to escape from by trickery or cleverness.

    to evade one's pursuers.

    Synonyms:
    dodge, avoid
    Antonyms:
    confront, face
  2. to get around by trickery.

    to evade rules.

  3. to avoid doing or fulfilling.

    to evade an obligation.

  4. to avoid answering directly.

    to evade a question.

  5. to elude; escape.

    The solution evaded him.


verb (used without object)

evades, present (3rd person singular) evaded, past participle, past evading present participle
  1. to avoid doing or fulfilling something.

  2. to elude or get away from someone or something by craft or slyness; escape.

evade British  
/ ɪˈveɪd /

verb

  1. to get away from or avoid (imprisonment, captors, etc); escape

  2. to get around, shirk, or dodge (the law, a duty, etc)

  3. (also intr) to avoid answering (a question)

"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

Synonym Usage

See escape.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Etymology

Origin of evade

First recorded in 1505–15; from Latin ēvādere “to pass over, go out,” equivalent to ē- “out of, from” + vādere “to go, walk” see e- 1

Explanation

When you evade something, you escape it. You could evade a police chase by slipping into a secret alley, or you could evade your mother's questions about the missing cookies by slipping into another topic. Other things people like to evade? Death. Taxes. Creepy ex-boyfriends. The verb evade comes from Latin roots ex ("away) and vadere ("to walk"), meaning literally "to walk away or to escape." Definitely what you want to do with creepy ex-boyfriends.

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