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Webster 1913 Edition

Subterfuge

Sub′ter-fuge

,
Noun.
[F., from LL.
subterfugium
, fr. L.
subterfugere
to flee secretly, to escape;
subter
under +
fugere
to flee. See
Fugitive
.]
That to which one resorts for escape or concealment; an artifice employed to escape censure or the force of an argument, or to justify opinions or conduct; a shift; an evasion.
Affect not little shifts and
subterfuges
, to avoid the force of an argument.
I. Watts.
By a miserable
subterfuge
, they hope to render this position safe by rendering it nugatory.
Burke.

Webster 1828 Edition

Subterfuge

SUB'TERFUGE

,
Noun.
[L. subter and fugio, to flee.] Literally, that to which a person resorts for escape or concealment; hence, a shift; an evasion; an artifice employed to escape censure or the force of an argument, or to justify opinions or conduct.
Affect not little shifts and subterfuges, to avoid the force of an argument.

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