elude
verb /ɪˈluːd/
/ɪˈluːd/
Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they elude | /ɪˈluːd/ /ɪˈluːd/ |
| he / she / it eludes | /ɪˈluːdz/ /ɪˈluːdz/ |
| past simple eluded | /ɪˈluːdɪd/ /ɪˈluːdɪd/ |
| past participle eluded | /ɪˈluːdɪd/ /ɪˈluːdɪd/ |
| -ing form eluding | /ɪˈluːdɪŋ/ /ɪˈluːdɪŋ/ |
- elude somebody/something to manage to avoid or escape from somebody/something, especially in a clever way
- The two men managed to elude the police for six weeks.
- How did the killer elude detection for so long?
- elude somebody if something eludes you, you are not able to achieve it, or not able to remember or understand it
- He was extremely tired but sleep eluded him.
- They're a popular band but chart success has eluded them so far.
- Finally he remembered the tiny detail that had eluded him the night before.
Extra ExamplesTopics Difficulty and failurec2- the success that has so far eluded her
- the higher levels of responsibility that have continued to elude women
- Winning this championship was a prize that had always eluded him.
- The point of the exercise seemed to elude the class.
Word Originmid 16th cent. (in the sense ‘delude, baffle’): from Latin eludere, from e- (variant of ex-) ‘out, away from’ + ludere ‘to play’.