e ‧ vade /ɪˈveɪd/ BrE AmE verb [transitive]
[ Date: 1500-1600 ; Language: French ; Origin: évader , from Latin evadere , from vadere 'to go, walk' ]
1 . NOT TALK ABOUT SOMETHING to avoid talking about something, especially because you are trying to hide something ⇨ evasion :
I could tell that he was trying to evade the issue.
The minister evaded the question.
2 . NOT DO SOMETHING to not do or deal with something that you should do ⇨ evasion :
You can’t go on evading your responsibilities in this way.
You’re simply trying to evade the problem.
3 . NOT PAY to avoid paying money that you ought to pay, for example tax ⇨ evasion :
Employers will always try to find ways to evade tax.
4 . ESCAPE to escape from someone who is trying to catch you:
She managed to evade the police.
So far he has evaded capture.
5 . NOT ACHIEVE/UNDERSTAND formal if something evades you, you cannot do it or understand it SYN elude :
The subtleties of his argument evaded me.
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THESAURUS
■ to avoid doing something
▪ avoid to find a way of not doing something that you should do:
Some people will do anything to avoid work.
▪ get out of something to avoid doing something you should do or something you promised to do. Get out of is more common than avoid in everyday spoken English:
We promised we’d go – we can’t get out of it now.
▪ wriggle out of something ( also wiggle out of something American English ) to avoid doing something you should do by making up excuses. Used to show disapproval:
He always seems to wriggle out of helping with the kids.
▪ evade formal to avoid doing something that legally or morally you should do – used especially about taxes or responsibilities:
It is an offence to evade taxes.
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The US cannot evade its responsibility for the war.