elude

elude
    v 1: escape, either physically or mentally; "The thief eluded
         the police"; "This difficult idea seems to evade her"; "The
         event evades explanation" [syn: {elude}, {evade}, {bilk}]
    2: be incomprehensible to; escape understanding by; "What you
       are seeing in him eludes me" [syn: {elude}, {escape}]
    3: avoid or try to avoid fulfilling, answering, or performing
       (duties, questions, or issues); "He dodged the issue"; "she
       skirted the problem"; "They tend to evade their
       responsibilities"; "he evaded the questions skillfully" [syn:
       {hedge}, {fudge}, {evade}, {put off}, {circumvent}, {parry},
       {elude}, {skirt}, {dodge}, {duck}, {sidestep}]
    

Elude \E*lude"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Eluded}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Eluding}.] [L. eludere, elusum; e + ludere to play: cf. F.
   ['e]luder. See {Ludicrous}.]
   To avoid slyly, by artifice, stratagem, or dexterity; to
   escape from in a covert manner; to mock by an unexpected
   escape; to baffle; as, to elude an officer; to elude
   detection, inquiry, search, comprehension; to elude the force
   of an argument or a blow.
   [1913 Webster]

         Me gentle Delia beckons from the plain,
         Then, hid in shades, eludes he eager swain. --Pope.
   [1913 Webster]

         The transition from fetichism to polytheism seems a
         gradual process of which the stages elude close
         definition.                              --Tylor.

   Syn: To evade; avoid; escape; shun; eschew; flee; mock;
        baffle; frustrate; foil.
        [1913 Webster]
    

80 Moby Thesaurus words for "elude":
      avoid, baffle, balk, beg, bewilder, bilk, blast, brave, challenge,
      checkmate, circumvent, confound, confront, confuse, contravene,
      counter, counteract, countermand, counterwork, cross, dash,
      deceive, defeat, defy, destroy, discomfit, disconcert,
      discountenance, dish, disrupt, ditch, dodge, double, duck, escape,
      eschew, evade, flee, flummox, fly, foil, frustrate, get around,
      get away from, get out of, get round, give the runaround,
      give the slip, go one better, knock the chocks, nonplus, outfigure,
      outflank, outgeneral, outguess, outmaneuver, outplay, outreach,
      outsmart, outwit, overreach, pass the buck, perplex, puzzle, ruin,
      sabotage, scotch, shake, shake off, shuffle out of, shun, shy,
      skirt, spike, spoil, stonewall, stump, thwart, upset, victimize