# elude

Pronunciation: US say "i-LOOD" /ɪˈlud/; UK say "i-LYOOD" /ɪˈljuːd/

## Verb

1. To escape from or avoid someone or something, especially by cleverness or skill, as when shaking off a pursuer.
   - Simple: To get away from someone or something, often by being clever or quick.
   - _Smugglers learned to elude the coast guard by sailing on moonless nights._
   - _The suspect eluded capture for months by switching cars and never sleeping in the same town twice._
2. To be beyond someone's understanding; to resist being understood by someone.
   - Simple: To be too hard for someone to understand.
   - _Some of the finer points of tax law elude even experienced accountants._
   - _The appeal of opera has always eluded him, no matter how many performances he sits through._
3. To escape someone's memory, so that they cannot call it to mind; to slip someone's mind.
   - Simple: To be something a person cannot remember, even though they try.
   - _The names of my old classmates elude me, though I can still picture their faces._
   - _The new password eluded him, so he had to reset it again._

## Origin

From Latin ēlūdō ("to evade, elude"), from ē- ("out of", a short form of ex-) + lūdō ("to play; to trick").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/elude (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).