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fudge

1
[fuhj]
|
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noun

a soft candy made of sugar, butter, milk, chocolate, and sometimes nuts.

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RELATED WORDS

overstate, falsify, evade, exaggerate, dodge, shuffle, magnify, color, avoid, slant, embellish, patch, stall, pad, hedge, equivocate, embroider

Nearby words

  1. fuddle,
  2. fuddle-duddle,
  3. fuddled,
  4. fuddling cup,
  5. fuddy-duddy,
  6. fudge factor,
  7. fuegian,
  8. fuego, tierra del,
  9. fuehrer,
  10. fuel

Origin of fudge

1
1895–1900, Americanism; of uncertain origin; the word was early in its history associated with college campuses, where fudge-making was popular; however, attempts to explain it as a derivative of fudge3 (preparing the candy supposedly being an excuse to “fudge” on dormitory rules) are dubious and probably after-the-fact speculation

fudge

2
[fuhj]

noun

nonsense or foolishness (often used as an interjection).

verb (used without object), fudged, fudg·ing.

to talk nonsense.

Origin of fudge

2
1690–1700; origin uncertain; cf. fudge3

fudge

3
[fuhj]

verb (used without object), fudged, fudg·ing.

to cheat or welsh (often followed by on): to fudge on an exam; to fudge on one's campaign promises.
to avoid coming to grips with something: to fudge on an issue.
to exaggerate a cost, estimate, etc., in order to allow leeway for error.

verb (used with object), fudged, fudg·ing.

to avoid coming to grips with (a subject, issue, etc.); evade; dodge: to fudge a direct question.

noun

a small stereotype or a few lines of specially prepared type, bearing a newspaper bulletin, for replacing a detachable part of a page plate without the need to replate the entire page.
the bulletin thus printed, often in color.
a machine or attachment for printing such a bulletin.

Origin of fudge

3
1665–75; origin uncertain; in earliest sense, “to contrive clumsily,” perhaps expressive variant of fadge to fit, agree, do (akin to Middle English feien to put together, join, Old English fēgan); unclear if fudge1 and fudge2 are developments of this word or independent coinages
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for fudge

British Dictionary definitions for fudge

fudge

1

noun

a soft variously flavoured sweet made from sugar, butter, cream, etc

Word Origin for fudge

C19: of unknown origin

noun

foolishness; nonsense

interjection

a mild exclamation of annoyance

verb

(intr) to talk foolishly or emptily

Word Origin for fudge

C18: of uncertain origin

noun

a small section of type matter in a box in a newspaper allowing late news to be included without the whole page having to be remade
the box in which such type matter is placed
the late news so inserted
a machine attached to a newspaper press for printing this
an unsatisfactory compromise reached to evade a difficult problem or controversial issue

verb

(tr) to make or adjust in a false or clumsy way
(tr) to misrepresent; falsify
to evade (a problem, issue, etc); dodge; avoid

Word Origin for fudge

C19: see fadge
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 fudge
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper