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e·vade (ĭ-vād)
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v. e·vad·ed, e·vad·ing, e·vades
v.tr.
1. To escape or avoid, especially by cleverness or deceit: managed to evade their pursuers; went underground in order to evade arrest.
2.
a. To avoid complying with or fulfilling: evade the draft; evaded any legal responsibility.
b. To fail to make payment of (taxes).
3. To avoid giving a direct answer to: talked at length but evaded the interviewer's question.
4. To be beyond the memory or understanding of: The point of the article evades me.
v.intr.
1. To use cleverness or deceit in avoiding or escaping something.
2. To avoid complying with or fulfilling a requirement.

[French évader, from Latin ēvādere : ē-, ex-, ex- + vādere, to go.]

e·vada·ble, e·vadi·ble adj.
e·vader n.

Synonyms: evade, elude, avoid, eschew
These verbs mean to get or stay away from something or someone undesirable. Evade implies adroit maneuvering and sometimes suggests dishonesty or irresponsibility: tried to evade jury duty. To elude is to get away from artfully: eluded their pursuers. Avoid suggests a prudent or deliberate effort to stay away from what is unpleasant, harmful, or disadvantageous: took the back roads to avoid the heavy traffic; followed his doctor's advice to avoid strenuous exercise. Eschew is a formal equivalent of avoid: "Eschew evil, and do good" (King James Bible).

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.