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fudge (fŭj)
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n.
1.
a. A soft rich candy made of sugar, milk, butter, and chocolate or cocoa.
b. A similar candy made with other flavorings: peanut butter fudge.
2. Nonsense; humbug.
adj.
1. Having a rich chocolate flavor.
2. Having pieces of fudge candy as an ingredient.
v. fudged, fudg·ing, fudg·es
v.tr.
1. To fake or falsify: fudge casualty figures.
2. To evade (an issue, for example); dodge.
v.intr.
1. To act in an indecisive manner: always fudged on the important questions.
2.
a. To go beyond the proper limits of something: fudged on the building code requirements.
b. To act dishonestly; cheat.
[Possibly alteration of fadge, to fit.]
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.

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