MEANING
To evade capture, detection, or successful attainment by someone seeking it.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- elude pursuit
- a solution eludes someone
On the page
The figure eluded pursuit among the intersecting passages.
The solution eluded her even after the contradictory dates were corrected.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- elude
- Past tense
- eluded
- Past participle
- eluded
- Present participle
- eluding
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- elude
- Present continuous
- am/is/are eluding
- Present perfect
- have/has eluded
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been eluding
- Past
- eluded
- Past continuous
- was/were eluding
- Past perfect
- had eluded
- Past perfect continuous
- had been eluding
- Future
- will elude
- Future continuous
- will be eluding
- Future perfect
- will have eluded
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been eluding
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: literary. Forms: elude; eludes; eluded; eluded; eluding Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Third-person singular: eludes.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
Keep a thought for later. Sign in to save privately.