Dictionary

elude en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /ɪˈlɪu̯d/ Wales, Ottawa Valley
• /ɪˈlyːd/ (Multicultural-London-English)
• /ɪˈluːd/ (Canada)
• [ɪˈlʉwd] (British, Southern, Standard)
• /ɪˈlud/ (General-American)
• (UK) audio
• /ɪˈljuːd/ Received Pronunciation, faded in Canada mid-20th century

Etymology

From Latin ēlūdō (“to evade, elude”), from ē- (“out of”, short form of ex-) + lūdō (“to play; to trick”).

Meanings

1. (transitive) To evade or escape from (someone or something), especially by using cunning or skill.
   • It leaves City still searching for the Champions League, the trophy that has always eluded them 2021 May 29, Phil McNulty, “Manchester City 0-1 Chelsea”, in BBC Sport:
   • Thus the observation of human blindness and weakness is the result of all philosophy, and meets us at every turn, in spite of our endeavours to elude or avoid it. 1748, David Hume, Enquiries concerning the human understanding and concerning the principles of moral., London: Oxford University Press, published 1973, § 26:
   • The line continued in operation until about 1908, but the precise date of closure has eluded research. 1951 August, P. W. Gentry, “Cliff Railways”, in Railway Magazine, page 516:
2. (transitive) To shake off (a pursuer); to give someone the slip.
   • Podolski gave Walcott a chance to further embellish Arsenal's first-half performance when he eluded James Perch and slipped the ball through to the striker. 2012 December 29, Paul Doyle, “Arsenal's Theo Walcott hits hat-trick in thrilling victory over Newcastle”, in The Guardian:
3. (transitive) To escape being understandable to; to be incomprehensible to.
   • I get algebra, but calculus eludes me.
4. (transitive) To escape someone's memory, to slip someone's mind.
   • The solution of that brainteaser eludes me and the name of the author eludes my memory too.

Forms

Deriveds

eludible · eluder

Relateds

allude · deflect · illude · delude

Translations (52)

de nicht einfallen (to escape so.'s memory) · vi né tránh (to evade, or escape from someone or something) · cs uniknout (to shake off a pursuer) · fr éluder (to evade, or escape from someone or something) · pt estar esquecido (to escape so.'s memory) · de umgehen (to evade, or escape from someone or something) · fa تفره رفتن (to evade, or escape from someone or something) · da undvige (to evade, or escape from someone or something) · fr oublier (to escape so.'s memory) · da stikke af (to evade, or escape from someone or something) · cs unikat (to escape understanding of; to be incomprehensible to) · de sich entziehen (to shake off a pursuer) · it eludere (to evade, or escape from someone or something) · bg избягвам (to evade, or escape from someone or something) · bg отбягвам (to evade, or escape from someone or something) · la dēdoceor (to escape so.'s memory) · de sich jmds. Verständnis entziehen (to escape understanding of; to be incomprehensible to) · da flygte (to evade, or escape from someone or something) · de abschütteln (to shake off a pursuer) · ca oblidar (to escape so.'s memory) · cmn 逃避 (to evade, or escape from someone or something) · it stare dimenticato (to escape so.'s memory) · cmn 躲避 (to evade, or escape from someone or something) · cs vyhýbat se (to evade, or escape from someone or something) · de entfallen sein (to escape so.'s memory) · la dēdiscor (to escape so.'s memory) · es estar olvidado (to escape so.'s memory) · ru ускользать (to escape understanding of; to be incomprehensible to) · de sich entziehen (to evade, or escape from someone or something) · de sich absetzen von (to shake off a pursuer) · de entkommen (to evade, or escape from someone or something) · ca estar oblidat (to escape so.'s memory) · uk вислизати (to evade, or escape from someone or something) · la ēlūdō (to evade, or escape from someone or something) · ro eluda (to evade, or escape from someone or something) · km គេច (to evade, or escape from someone or something) · vi trốn chạy khỏi (to evade, or escape from someone or something) · de entgehen (to shake off a pursuer) · ru ускользать (to evade, or escape from someone or something) · de entgehen (to evade, or escape from someone or something) · es eludir (to evade, or escape from someone or something) · pt esquivar (to evade, or escape from someone or something) · de entkommen (to shake off a pursuer) · ca eludir (to evade, or escape from someone or something) · da undgå (to evade, or escape from someone or something) · pt escapar (to evade, or escape from someone or something) · cs vymykat se (chápání) (to escape understanding of; to be incomprehensible to) · fa اجتناب کردن (to evade, or escape from someone or something) · cs unikat (to evade, or escape from someone or something) · da rømme (to evade, or escape from someone or something) · es olvidársele (to escape so.'s memory) · de aus dem Weg gehen (to evade, or escape from someone or something)