dodge
/dɑd͡ʒ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.93 in modern English
8
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To avoid (something) by moving suddenly out of the way.
verb
To make an area of an image lighter (when processing photographs in a darkroom, this is accomplished by decreasing the exposure of that area to light).
Example Sentences
- "He dodged traffic crossing the street."
- "But that was only the start, because the Fletchers - (obviously) carrying two torpedo launchers - were only launching half-salvos, so one full wave of torpedoes had driven off the cruisers after having savaged the destroyers, aaand then it was a case of, well, here come twenty-five destroyers, here comes^([sic]) two hundred and fifty torpedoes, hello Japanese battleships, dodge this!"
- "The politician dodged the question with a meaningless reply."
- "The popular late Middle Ages fictional character Robin Hood, dressed in green to symbolize the forest, dodged fines for forest offenses and stole from the rich to give to the poor. But his appeal was painfully real and embodied the struggle over wood."
- "“We must follow after this dreadnought, hard on her tracks. She shall not dodge me though she hide in unfathomed waters, or in the earth's bosom, or in lonely woods, or on crags!”"
- "Or if a footpad asks him for his money, what need he care provided he has an umbrella? He threatens to dodge the ferrule into the ruffian’s eye, and the fellow starts back and says, “Lord, sir! I meant no harm. […]"
Etymology
Likely from dialectal dodge, dod, dodd (“to jog, trudge along, totter", also "to jerk, jig”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from unrecorded Middle English *dodden, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *dud- (“to move”), related to Old English dydrian, dyderian (“to delude, deceive”), Middle English dideren (“to tremble, quake, shiver”), English dodder, Norwegian dudra (“to tremble”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /dɑd͡ʒ/
- British English: /dɒd͡ʒ/
Usage
- Transitive verb
- Archaic
- Dated
- Slang
- Australian usage
- British usage
- Colloquial
- American usage
Inflected Forms
dodges (present, singular)
dodging (participle, present)
dodged (participle, past)
dodged (past)
dodges (plural)
more dodge (comparative)
most dodge (superlative)