dodge

Definitions

1. 1.To evade a duty by low craft; to practice mean shifts; to use tricky devices; to play fast and loose; to quibble. Some dodging casuist with more craft than sincerity. Milton.
2. 2.To evade by a sudden shift of place; to escape by starting aside; as, to dodge a blow aimed or a ball thrown.
3. 3.Fig.: To evade by craft; as, to dodge a question; to dodge responsibility. [Colloq.] S. G. Goodrich.
4. 4.To follow by dodging, or suddenly shifting from place to place. Coleridge.
5. 5.The act of evading by some skillful movement; a sudden starting aside; hence, an artful device to evade, deceive, or cheat; a cunning trick; an artifice. [Colloq.] Some, who have a taste for good living, have many harmless arts, by which they improve their banquet, and innocent dodges, if we may be permitted to use an excellent phrase that has become vernacular since the appearance of the last dictionaries. Thackeray.

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

Related questions

• What does "dodge" mean?

Reverse-dictionary questions

Definition-first questions whose answer is dodge.

• What is to evade a duty by low craft; to practice mean shifts; to use tricky devices; to play fast and loose; to quibble. Some dodging casuist with more craft than sincerity. Milton called?
• What is to evade by a sudden shift of place; to escape by starting aside; as, to dodge a blow aimed or a ball thrown called?
• What is fig.: To evade by craft; as, to dodge a question; to dodge responsibility. [Colloq.] S. G. Goodrich called?
• What is to follow by dodging, or suddenly shifting from place to place. Coleridge called?