fudge

noun

/fʌdʒ/

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[uncountable] a type of soft brown sweet made from sugar, butter and milkTopics Foodc2
[countable, usually singular] (especially British English, rather informal) a way of dealing with a situation that does not really solve the problems but is intended to appear to do so
- This solution is a fudge rushed in to win cheers at the party conference.

Word Originearly 17th cent.: probably an alteration of obsolete fadge ‘to fit’. Early usage was as a verb in the sense ‘turn out as expected’, also ‘merge together’: this probably gave rise to its use in confectionery. In the late 17th cent. the verb came to mean ‘fit together in a clumsy or underhand manner’, which included facts or figures being cobbled together in a superficially convincing way: this led to the exclamation ‘fudge!’

fudge

verb

/fʌdʒ/

[transitive, intransitive] (rather informal)

Verb Forms

present simple I / you / we / they fudge	/fʌdʒ/ /fʌdʒ/
he / she / it fudges	/ˈfʌdʒɪz/ /ˈfʌdʒɪz/
past simple fudged	/fʌdʒd/ /fʌdʒd/
past participle fudged	/fʌdʒd/ /fʌdʒd/
-ing form fudging	/ˈfʌdʒɪŋ/ /ˈfʌdʒɪŋ/

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to present or deal with something in a way that avoids giving clear and accurate information
- fudge something Politicians are often very clever at fudging the issue.
- I asked how long he was staying, but he fudged the answer.
- fudge on something They simply fudged on the details.
Word Originearly 17th cent.: probably an alteration of obsolete fadge ‘to fit’. Early usage was as a verb in the sense ‘turn out as expected’, also ‘merge together’: this probably gave rise to its use in confectionery. In the late 17th cent. the verb came to mean ‘fit together in a clumsy or underhand manner’, which included facts or figures being cobbled together in a superficially convincing way: this led to the exclamation ‘fudge!’