evade
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
to escape from someone who is chasing you by moving quickly or being clever.
to elude or escape from a pursuer or captor through physical dexterity or cunning.
Simple“The thief managed to evade the police by running through a narrow alleyway.”
In context“The fighter pilot performed a series of high-G maneuvers to evade the heat-seeking missiles locked onto his aircraft.”
- 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
to avoid doing something you should do, like paying taxes or answering a difficult question.
to avoid fulfilling a legal or moral obligation, or to avoid answering a direct question through sophistry or redirection.
Simple“The politician tried to evade the reporter's question by talking about a different topic.”
In context“The corporation was accused of using offshore accounts to evade millions of dollars in domestic corporate taxes.”
UsageOften used with 'taxes', 'responsibility', or 'questions'.
PitfallHe tried to evade from paying his taxes. He tried to evade paying his taxes.In modern English, 'evade' is almost always transitive and does not require the preposition 'from'.
“Bezhig (Keris Hope Hill) and her mother Patti (Ellyn Jade) try to evade the police in Litte Bird.”
From Middle French évader, from Latin ēvādō (“to pass or go over; flee”), from ē (“out of, from”) + vādō (“to go; walk”). See also wade.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.