verb (used with object), e·lud·ed, e·lud·ing.
- to avoid or escape by speed, cleverness, trickery, etc.; evade: to elude capture.
- to escape the understanding, perception, or appreciation of: The answer eludes me.
verb (tr)
- to escape or avoid (capture, one’s pursuers, etc), esp by cunning
- to avoid fulfilment of (a responsibility, obligation, etc); evade
- to escape discovery, or understanding by; bafflethe solution eluded her
1530s, “delude, make a fool of,” from Latin eludere “escape from, make a fool of, win from at play,” from 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.