Evasion
[ɪ'veɪʒ(ə)n] or [ɪ'veʒn]
Definition
(noun.) the act of physically escaping from something (an opponent or a pursuer or an unpleasant situation) by some adroit maneuver.
(noun.) nonperformance of something distasteful (as by deceit or trickery) that you are supposed to do; 'his evasion of his clear duty was reprehensible'; 'that escape from the consequences is possible but unattractive'.
(noun.) the deliberate act of failing to pay money; 'his evasion of all his creditors'; 'he was indicted for nonpayment'.
(noun.) a statement that is not literally false but that cleverly avoids an unpleasant truth.
Typist: Penelope--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) The act of eluding or avoiding, particularly the pressure of an argument, accusation, charge, or interrogation; artful means of eluding.
Inputed by Kelly
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. Shift, subterfuge, equivocation, prevarication, quibble, tergiversation, shuffling, sophistical excuse, disingenuous escape.
Inputed by Errol
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Prevarication, shuffle, fencing, sheet, subterfuge, quibble, equivocation
ANT:Answer, counterargument, grappling
Edited by Carlos
Definition
n. act of evading or eluding: an attempt to escape the force of an argument or accusation: an excuse.—adjs. Evā′sible capable of being evaded; Evā′sive that evades or seeks to evade: not straightforward: shuffling.—adv. Evā′sively.—n. Evā′siveness.
Typed by Justine
Examples
- In trickery, evasion, procrastination, spoliation, botheration, under false pretences of all sorts, there are influences that can never come to good. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- Briggs replied, with meek evasion. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- That there article of clothing likeways belonged to, and was wore by--him as I have made mention on,' was again the dull Old Bailey evasion. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- This struck her as a clumsy evasion, and the thought gave a flash of keenness to her answer. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- Any one might have seen in her haggard face that there was no suppression or evasion so far. Charles Dickens. Great Expectations.
- Divided interest and evasion destroy it. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- I have been shutting myself up and resting, said Will, feeling himself a sneak, but seeing no alternative to this evasion. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- He has to pick his way between cowardly evasion on the one hand, and partisanship on the other. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- I scorn your shifty evasions, and I scorn you,' said the schoolmaster. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- There would have been either the ostentation of a coxcomb, or the evasions of a mind too weak to defend its own vanities. Jane Austen. Emma.
- It was full of odd, fantastic expression, of double meanings, of evasions, of suggestive vagueness. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- No more evasions. Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
- Necessity, however, always forced him to submit at last, though frequently not till after many delays, evasions, and affected excuses. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- I fancy, even already, that unavailing attendance on delays and evasions has made you something less elastic than you used to be. Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
Checked by Dick