Definition

1. Noun:
   • The act of avoiding or escaping something: The act of physically getting away from someone chasing you, an opponent, or an unpleasant situation through skillful movement or clever action.
   • The act of not doing something you should do: The nonperformance of a duty or responsibility, often through deceit, trickery, or avoidance.
   • A means of escape: A way out from consequences that is possible but not desirable.
   • The deliberate failure to pay money owed: The intentional act of not paying debts or money that is due.
   • An indirect or misleading statement: A statement that is not technically false but is crafted to avoid telling an unpleasant truth.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • The fugitive's evasion of the police lasted for weeks. (Here, 'evasion' refers to the act of physically escaping capture.)
  • Tax evasion is a serious crime. (Here, 'evasion' refers to the illegal avoidance of a duty, specifically paying taxes.)
  • His answer was a clever evasion of the direct question. (Here, 'evasion' refers to a statement that avoids giving a straightforward answer.)
  • The debtor was accused of evasion by all his creditors. (Here, 'evasion' refers to the deliberate failure to pay money owed.)

Advanced Usage

• "Evasion of responsibility": The act of avoiding duties or obligations one is supposed to fulfill.
  • The manager's evasion of responsibility led to the project's failure.
• "Tactical evasion": Skillful maneuvering to avoid a threat, often used in military or strategic contexts.
  • The pilot used tactical evasion to avoid the enemy missile.

Variants and Related Words

• Evade (verb): To escape or avoid, especially by cleverness or trickery.
  • He tried to evade the question.
• Evasive (adjective): Tending to avoid commitment or self-revelation, especially in speech.
  • She gave an evasive answer.

Synonyms

• Avoidance: The action of keeping away from or not doing something.
• Dodging: The act of avoiding something by a quick, sudden movement or shift.
• Elusion: The act of escaping, especially from danger or capture.
• Circumvention: The action of overcoming a problem or difficulty, typically in a clever and surreptitious way.

Related Phrases

• Evasion of service: The act of avoiding being formally served with a legal document, such as a court summons.
  • He was charged with evasion of service.
• Aerial evasion: Maneuvers by an aircraft to avoid attack or detection.
  • The fighter jet performed expert aerial evasion.

Related Idioms

• To take evasive action: To act to avoid something dangerous or unpleasant.
  • When the storm hit, the ship had to take evasive action.
• An evasion of the truth: A statement or action that avoids confronting or stating the truth directly.
  • His story was full of evasions of the truth.

Noun

1. the act of physically escaping from something (an opponent or a pursuer or an unpleasant situation) by some adroit maneuver
2. 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
3. the deliberate act of failing to pay money
   • his evasion of all his creditors
   • he was indicted for nonpayment
4. a statement that is not literally false but that cleverly avoids an unpleasant truth