Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A crafty stratagem; a subterfuge. synonym: wile.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To fall.
  • To slide down a declivity with a rustling noise.
  • To give way; fall back; retreat; use tricks for the purpose of escaping.
  • noun The use of artifice or trickery; also, a stratagem.
  • noun Synonyms Manœuver, Trick, etc. See artifice and stratagem.
  • A Middle English or dialectal form of roose. Cath. Ang.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun An artifice; trick; stratagem; wile; fraud; deceit.
  • noun a stratagem of war.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun a trick
  • noun guile

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a deceptive maneuver (especially to avoid capture)

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, detour, dodging, from Old French, from ruser, to drive back; see rush.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English, from Old French ruse ("evasive movements of a pursued animal"), with conflicting Latin origins.

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Examples

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  • a subterfuge

    trick

    July 11, 2009