- 1elude 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.
- 2elude 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. Word Originmid 16th cent. (in the sense ‘delude, baffle’): from Latin eludere, from e- (variant of ex-) ‘out, away from’ + ludere ‘to play’.Extra examples The point of the exercise seemed to elude the class. Winning this championship was a prize that had always eluded him. the higher levels of responsibility that have continued to elude women the success that has so far eluded her How did the killer elude detection for so long?
elude
verbBrE BrE//iˈluːd//; NAmE NAmE//iˈluːd//
Verb Forms present simple I / you / we / they elude BrE BrE//iˈluːd//; NAmE NAmE//iˈluːd//
he / she / it eludes BrE BrE//iˈluːdz//; NAmE NAmE//iˈluːdz//
past simple eluded BrE BrE//iˈluːdɪd//; NAmE NAmE//iˈluːdɪd//
past participle eluded BrE BrE//iˈluːdɪd//; NAmE NAmE//iˈluːdɪd//
-ing form eluding BrE BrE//iˈluːdɪŋ//; NAmE NAmE//iˈluːdɪŋ//
Check pronunciation: elude
