dodge English · revision 15121

+ {{infobox|confidence=unknown|attested=1568}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /dɒdʒ/, US /dɑːdʒ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Its origin is unknown or uncertain.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024)^(NODE 1998) Barnhart and Etymonline suggest a link with dodd, to jog (1570s), a dialect verb of Scotland and northern England.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To go this way and that in speech or action, to be off and on: 1568.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) The NODE gives the senses to dither and to haggle.^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ To play fast and loose is from 1575,^(OED 1989) and an obsolete ''to dodge it'', to haggle, from 1652.^(OED 1989) The noun is from 1575 in Barnhart; as a clever trick it is from the 1630s in Etymonline, revived in the early 19th century.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) To avoid a blow or encounter by moving aside is from 1680,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) and to move to and fro from 1704.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) The sense to swindle, play shifty tricks, was common from the early 18th century,^(Etymonline) and the photography sense is by 1883.^(Etymonline) Dodger is from 1568.^(Barnhart 1988) In Scotland and East Anglia a dodge was also a large slice of food or a lump of something moist.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1568 – to go this way and that.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1575 – a dodge (noun).^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1680 – to avoid by moving aside.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1704 – to move to and fro.^(OED 1989)

+ * by 1883 – dodge (photography).^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To avoid a blow, discovery or the like by moving suddenly aside.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To evade questions or obligations by cleverness or trickery.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To shift or twist suddenly aside.^(AHD)

+ # ''(photography)'' To lighten or darken parts of a print while it is being made.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(bell-ringing)'' To make a bell change places with its neighbour in successive changes.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # An act of dodging.^(AHD)

+ # A clever trick or expedient meant to evade or deceive.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[undodged]]

+ * [[dodgery]]

+ * [[outdodge]]

+ * [[dodgeball]]

+ * [[dodgem]]

+ * [[dodger]]

+ * [[dodgy]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}