E‐lude″ (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p.Eluded; p. pr. & vb. n.Eluding.] [L. eludere, elusum; e + ludere to play: cf. F. éluder. 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.
Me gentle Delia beckons from the plain,
Then, hid in shades, eludes he eager swain. Pope.
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.