ELUDE

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does elude mean? 

• ELUDE (verb)
  The verb ELUDE has 3 senses:

1. escape, either physically or mentally

2. be incomprehensible to; escape understanding by

3. avoid or try to avoid fulfilling, answering, or performing (duties, questions, or issues)

  Familiarity information: ELUDE used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ELUDE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they elude    ... he / she / it eludes   
Past simple: eluded   
Past participle: eluded   
-ing form: eluding   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Escape, either physically or mentally

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

bilk; elude; evade

Context example:

The event evades explanation

Hypernyms (to "elude" is one way to...):

break loose; escape; get away (run away from confinement)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Derivation:

eluding; elusion (the act of avoiding capture (especially by cunning))

elusive (skillful at eluding capture)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Be incomprehensible to; escape understanding by

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

elude; escape

Context example:

What you are seeing in him eludes me

Hypernyms (to "elude" is one way to...):

amaze; baffle; beat; bewilder; dumbfound; flummox; get; gravel; mystify; nonplus; perplex; pose; puzzle; stick; stupefy; vex (be a mystery or bewildering to)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "elude"):

defy; refuse; resist (elude, especially in a baffling way)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s somebody

Sentence example:

The performance is likely to elude Sue

Derivation:

elusive (difficult to describe)

elusive (difficult to detect or grasp by the mind or analyze)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Avoid or try to avoid fulfilling, answering, or performing (duties, questions, or issues)

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

circumvent; dodge; duck; elude; evade; fudge; hedge; parry; put off; sidestep; skirt

Context example:

he evaded the questions skillfully

Hypernyms (to "elude" is one way to...):

avoid (stay clear from; keep away from; keep out of the way of someone or something)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "elude"):

beg (dodge, avoid answering, or take for granted)

quibble (evade the truth of a point or question by raising irrelevant objections)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

 Context examples 

But White Fang was here, there, and everywhere, always evading and eluding, and always leaping in and slashing with his fangs and leaping out again in time to escape punishment.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

He plunged his arm in up to the shoulder, but it eluded him.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

Several times Wolf Larsen tried to inveigle me into discussion, but I gave him short answers and eluded him.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

I would have seized him, but he eluded me and quitted the house with precipitation.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

But if she DID, the letter was written and sent away with a privacy which eluded all her watchfulness to ascertain the fact.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

I had dared and baffled his fury; I must elude his sorrow: I retired to the door.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

The figure has eluded planetary scientists for decades, because the gas giant has no solid surface with landmarks to track as it rotates, and it has an unusual magnetic field that hides the planet's rotation rate.

(Scientists Finally Know What Time It Is on Saturn, NASA)

New research by engineers at the University of Illinois combines atomic-scale experiments with computer modeling to determine how much energy it takes to bend multilayer graphene — a question that has eluded scientists since graphene was first isolated.

(Graphene: The more you bend it, the softer it gets, National Science Foundation)

The evening was now drawing close, and well I knew that at sunset the Thing, which was till then imprisoned there, would take new freedom and could in any of many forms elude all pursuit.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Therefore, Sir Walter, what I would take leave to suggest is, that if in consequence of any rumours getting abroad of your intention; which must be contemplated as a possible thing, because we know how difficult it is to keep the actions and designs of one part of the world from the notice and curiosity of the other; consequence has its tax; I, John Shepherd, might conceal any family-matters that I chose, for nobody would think it worth their while to observe me; but Sir Walter Elliot has eyes upon him which it may be very difficult to elude; and therefore, thus much I venture upon, that it will not greatly surprise me if, with all our caution, some rumour of the truth should get abroad; in the supposition of which, as I was going to observe, since applications will unquestionably follow, I should think any from our wealthy naval commanders particularly worth attending to; and beg leave to add, that two hours will bring me over at any time, to save you the trouble of replying.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)