do dec up let (dodekuplet)

[ dodge (doj), v.; pret. and pp. dodged, ppr. dodg ing. [First recorded in early mod. E.; perhaps (the term. -ge being appar. due to a ME. form *dodien, *dodyen; cf. soldier, pron. sõl ́jėr) connected with Sc. dod, jog, North. E. dad, shake, whence the freq. forms dodder, doddle, dadder, daddle; cf. didder, diddle1.] I. in trans. 1. To start suddenly aside; aside; shift place by a sudden start, as to evade a blow or escape observation. As I am an old fox-hunter, I should have turned and dodged , and have played them a you sand tricks they had never seen in their lives before. Add is on, Sir Roger at the Play. 2. To shift about; move cautiously, as in avoiding discovery, or in following and watching another's movements: as, he dodged along byways and hedges; the Indians dodged from tree to tree. IMG:content-2978.png:[blocks in formation] Shak ., A. and C., iii. 9. You know my pa ion for Martha, and what a dance she has led me; she dodged with me above thirty years. Add is on . 4. To jog; walk in a slow, listle , or clumsy manner. [Colloq., North. Eng.] II. trans. 1. To evade by a sudden shift of place, or by trick or device; escape by starting aside, or by baffling or roundabout movements: as, to dodge a blow; to dodge a pursuer or a creditor; to dodge a perplexing question. A speck, a mist, a shape, I wist! And still it near'd and near'd: As if it dodged a water-sprite, It plunged, and tacked, and veered. Cole ridge, Ancient Mariner, iii. It might have begun otherwise or elsewhere, but war was in the minds and bones of the combatants, it was written on the iron leaf, and you might as easily dodge gravitation. Emerson, Emancipation Proclamation. 2. To play fast and loose with; baffle by shifts and pretexts; trick. [Colloq.] He dodged me with a long and loose account. Tennyson, Sea Dreams.