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Webster 1913 Edition


Prevaricate

Pre-var′i-cate

,
Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Prevaricated
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Prevaricating
.]
[L.
praevaricatus
, p. p. of
praevaricari
to walk crookedly, to collude;
prae
before +
varicare
to straddle, fr.
varicus
straddling,
varus
bent. See
Varicose
.]
1.
To shift or turn from one side to the other, from the direct course, or from truth; to speak with equivocation; to shuffle; to quibble;
as, he
prevaricates
in his statement
.
He
prevaricates
with his own understanding.
South.
2.
(Civil Law)
To collude, as where an informer colludes with the defendant, and makes a sham prosecution.
3.
(Eng. Law)
To undertake a thing falsely and deceitfully, with the purpose of defeating or destroying it.
Syn. – To evade; equivocate; quibble; shuffle.
Prevaricate
,
Evade
,
Equivocate
. One who evades a question ostensibly answers it, but really turns aside to some other point. He who equivocate uses words which have a double meaning, so that in one sense he can claim to have said the truth, though he does in fact deceive, and intends to do it. He who prevaricates talks all round the question, hoping to “dodge” it, and disclose nothing.

Pre-var′i-cate

,
Verb.
T.
To evade by a quibble; to transgress; to pervert.
[Obs.]
Jer. Taylor.

Webster 1828 Edition


Prevaricate

PREVAR'ICATE

,
Verb.
I.
[L. proevaricor; proe and varico, varicor, to straddle.]
1.
To shuffle; to quibble; to shift or turn from one side to the other, from the direct course or from truth; to play foul play.
I would think better of himself, than that he would wilfully prevaricate.
2.
In the civil law, to collude; as where an informer colludes with the defendant, and makes a sham prosecution.
3.
In English law, to undertake a thing falsely and deceitfully, with the purpose of defeating or destroying it.

PREVAR'ICATE

,
Verb.
T.
To pervert; to corrupt; to evade by a quibble. [But in a transitive sense,this word is seldom or never used.]

Definition 2024


prevaricate

prevaricate

English

Alternative forms

Verb

prevaricate (third-person singular simple present prevaricates or (archaic) prevaricateth, present participle prevaricating, simple past and past participle prevaricated)

  1. (transitive, intransitive, obsolete) To deviate, transgress; to go astray (from).
  2. (intransitive) To shift or turn from direct speech or behaviour; to evade the truth; to waffle or be (intentionally) ambiguous.
    The people saw the politician prevaricate every day.
  3. (intransitive, law) To collude, as where an informer colludes with the defendant, and makes a sham prosecution.
  4. (law, Britain) To undertake something falsely and deceitfully, with the purpose of defeating or destroying it.

Derived terms

Translations

See also


Italian

Verb

prevaricate

  1. second-person plural present indicative of prevaricare
  2. second-person plural imperative of prevaricare
  3. Feminine plural of prevaricato