elude
pronunciation
How to pronounce elude in British English:
UK [iˈluːd]
How to pronounce elude in American English:
US [iˈluːd]
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- Verb:
- escape, either physically or mentally
- be incomprehensible to; escape understanding by
- avoid or try to avoid fulfilling, answering, or performing (duties, questions, or issues)
Word Origin
- elude
- elude: see illusion
- elude (v.)
- 1530s, "delude, make a fool of," from Latin eludere "finish play, win at play; escape from or parry (a blow), make a fool of, mock, frustrate; win from at play," from assimilated form of 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.
Example
- 1. The goals of balanced growth , balanced economic policies and a safe financial system still elude us .
- 2. Like jellyfish or hydra polyps , they always elude our grasp in some fundamental sense .
- 3. China 's reluctance to grant visas to foreign reporters and its censorship of the press does allow factories to elude the kind of scrutiny that would be routine elsewhere .
- 4. Meanwhile astaire the man continues to elude everyone . In imagination he seems perpetually to be dancing up one of those great curving ballroom staircases that feature so frequently in hollywood musicals , the audience always hoping that he will stay a little longer .