dodge
/dɔdʤ/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Verb:
- To avoid something by moving quickly or suddenly: To make a quick, evasive movement to prevent being hit, caught, or seen.
- To avoid a responsibility, question, or issue: To evade or circumvent dealing with something directly, often through cleverness or trickery.
Noun:
- A quick, evasive movement: A sudden, clever shift in position to avoid something.
- A clever or deceitful trick or scheme: A cunning plan or method used to avoid a difficulty or to deceive someone.
Examples of Usage
Verb:
- The boxer managed to dodge the punch. (He moved quickly to avoid being hit.)
- The politician tried to dodge the reporter's question. (He evaded giving a direct answer.)
- She dodged through the crowded market. (She moved quickly and irregularly through the crowd.)
Noun:
- With a quick dodge, he avoided the flying ball. (He made a sudden evasive movement.)
- His excuse was just a clever dodge to avoid doing the work. (It was a deceptive trick.)
Advanced Usage
"To dodge a bullet": To narrowly avoid a serious problem or disaster.
- Missing that flight was lucky; we really dodged a bullet as it had mechanical issues. (We avoided a potentially dangerous situation.)
"To dodge the draft": To illegally avoid compulsory military service.
- During the war, some citizens tried to dodge the draft. (They tried to evade conscription.)
Variants and Related Words
Dodger (noun): A person who avoids something, especially responsibilities or the truth.
- He's a tax dodger. (He is someone who illegally avoids paying taxes.)
Dodgy (adjective, chiefly British): Of uncertain outcome, risky, or dishonest.
- That deal sounds a bit dodgy. (That deal seems suspicious or unreliable.)
Synonyms
- Verb: Evade, avoid, sidestep, duck, elude.
- Noun: Evasion, scheme, trick, ruse, subterfuge.
Related Phrasal Verbs
- Dodge about / Dodge in and out: To move quickly and irregularly, changing direction frequently.
- The rabbit dodged about in the field. (The rabbit ran in quick, unpredictable directions.)
- The motorcyclist was dodging in and out of traffic. (He was weaving irregularly between cars.)
Related Idioms
- Dodge the issue: To avoid discussing or dealing with the main point or problem.
- Stop dodging the issue and give me a straight answer. (Stop avoiding the core problem.)
Noun
- a statement that evades the question by cleverness or trickery
- a quick evasive movement
- an elaborate or deceitful scheme contrived to deceive or evade
- his testimony was just a contrivance to throw us off the track
Verb
- avoid or try to avoid fulfilling, answering, or performing (duties, questions, or issues)
- He dodged the issue
- she skirted the problem
- They tend to evade their responsibilities
- he evaded the questions skillfully
- move to and fro or from place to place usually in an irregular course
- the pickpocket dodged through the crowd
- make a sudden movement in a new direction so as to avoid
- The child dodged the teacher's blow