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Webster 1913 Edition

Dodge

Dodge

,
Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Dodged
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Dodging
.]
[Of uncertain origin: cf.
dodder
, v.,
daddle
, dade, or
dog
, v. t.]
1.
To start suddenly aside, as to avoid a blow or a missile; to shift place by a sudden start.
Milton.
2.
To evade a duty by low craft; to practice mean shifts; to use tricky devices; to play fast and loose; to quibble.
Some
dodging
casuist with more craft than sincerity.
Milton.

Dodge

,
Verb.
T.
1.
To evade by a sudden shift of place; to escape by starting aside;
as, to
dodge
a blow aimed or a ball thrown
.
2.
Fig.: To evade by craft;
as, to
dodge
a question; to
dodge
responsibility.
[Colloq.]
S. G. Goodrich.
3.
To follow by dodging, or suddenly shifting from place to place.
Coleridge.

Dodge

,
Noun.
The act of evading by some skillful movement; a sudden starting aside; hence, an artful device to evade, deceive, or cheat; a cunning trick; an artifice.
[Colloq.]
Some, who have a taste for good living, have many harmless arts, by which they improve their banquet, and innocent
dodges
, if we may be permitted to use an excellent phrase that has become vernacular since the appearance of the last dictionaries.
Thackeray.

Webster 1828 Edition

Dodge

DODGE

,
Verb.
I.
doj.
[from some root signifying to shoot, dart or start.]
1.
To start suddenly aside; to shift place by a sudden start.
2.
To play tricks; to be evasive; to use tergiversation; to play fast and loose; to raise expectations and disappoint them; to quibble.

DODGE

,
Verb.
T.
To evade by a sudden shift of place; to escape by starting aside; as, to dodge a blow aimed; to dodge a canon ball. [This is a common word, very expressive and useful, but not admissible in solemn discourse or elegant composition.]

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