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an argument, accusation, charge, or interrogation; artful means of eluding. Thou . . . by evasions thy crime uncoverest more. Milton.

To use evasion. [Obs.] Books will speak plain, when counselors blanch. Bacon.

); as, he came off with honor; hence, substantively, a come off, an escape; an excuse; an evasion. [Colloq.] (e) To pay over; to give. [Obs.] (f) To take place; to happen; as, when does the race come off

Tending to evade, or marked by evasion; elusive; shuffling; avoiding by artifice. Thus he, though conscious of the ethereal guest, Answered evasive of the sly request. Pope. Stammered out a few evasive phrases. Macaulay. -- E*va"sive*ly , adv. -- E*va"sive*ness, n.

Not admitting excuse, evasion, or plea; rigorous. [R.] T. Adams.

Without possibility of escape or evasion; unavoidably; certainly. Inevitably thou shalt die. Milton. How inevitably does immoderate laughter end in a sigh! South.

A hole or aperture that gives a passage, or the means of escape or evasion.

A loosing from; an escape; an outlet; an evasion. [Obs.] That "whereas" gives me an outloose. Selden.

A shift for evasion or delay; an evasion; an excuse. L'Estrange.

A shift or turn from the point in question; a trifling or evasive distinction; an evasion; a cavil. Quibbles have no place in the search after truth. I. Watts.

A sudden turn; a starting from the point or line; hence, an artful evasion or subterfuge; a shift; a quibble; as, the quirks of a pettifogger. "Some quirk or . . . evasion." Spenser. We ground the justification of our nonconformity on dark subtilties and intricate quirks. Barrow.

Means of escape; evasion. [Obs.] Donne.

A turning from one thing to another; hence, an expedient tried in difficalty; often, an evasion; a trick; a fraud. "Reduced to pitiable shifts." Macaulay. I 'll find a thousand shifts to get away. Shak. Little souls on little shifts rely. Dryden.

A trick; an artifice; an evasion. The gifts of nature are beyond all shame and shuffles. L'Estrange.

a hand lever for working the values in starting an engine. -- Starting hole, a loophole; evasion. [Obs.] -- Starting point, the point from which motion begins, or from which anything starts. -- Starting post, a post, stake, barrier, or place from which competitors in a race start, or begin the race.…

scape censure or the force of an argument, or to justify opinions or conduct; a shift; an evasion. Affect not little shifts and subterfuges, to avoid the force of an argument. I. Watts. By a miserable subterfuge, they hope to render this position safe by rendering it nugatory. Burke.

To shift; to practice evasion; to use subterfuges; to shuffle. [R.] Bailey.

The act of tergiversating; a shifting; shift; subterfuge; evasion. Writing is to be preferred before verbal conferences, as being freer from passions and tergiversations. Abp. Bramhall.

One who tergiversates; one who suffles, or practices evasion.

Evasion; subterfuge. [Obs.] Bacon.