| Main Entry: | block |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | obstruct |
| Synonyms: | arrest, bar, barricade, block out, blockade, brake, catch, charge, check, choke, clog, close, close off, close out, congest, cut off, dam, deter, fill, halt, hang up, hinder, hold up, impede, intercept, interfere with, occlude, plug, prevent, shut off, shut out, stall, stonewall, stop, stop up, stopper, stymie, tackle, take out of play, thwart |
| Notes: | a bloc is a group of countries in special alliance while a block is an obstruction, an interruption, or a rectangular area or shape |
| Antonyms: | let go, let up, open, unblock |
| Main Entry: | cross |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | betray, hinder |
| Synonyms: | backtalk, block, bollix, buck, crab, cramp, crimp, deny, double-cross, flummox, foil, foul up, frustrate, have bone to pick, impede, interfere, knock props out, louse up, obstruct, oppose, resist, sell out, sell*, snafu, stab in the back, stonewall, stump, stymie, take on, take wind out of sails, thwart |
| Antonyms: | abet, aid, assist, help |
| Main Entry: | defend |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | show support for |
| Synonyms: | advocate, aid, apologize for, argue, assert, back, back up, bear one out, befriend, champion, come to defense of, cover for, endorse, espouse, exculpate, exonerate, explain, go to bat for, guarantee, justify, maintain, plead, prove a case, put in a good word, rationalize, recommend, ride shotgun for, say in defense, second, speak up for, stand by, stand up for, stick up for, stonewall, support, sustain, thump for, uphold, vindicate, warrant |
| Antonyms: | deny, forsake, renounce |
| Main Entry: | dissemble |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | disguise, pretend |
| Synonyms: | affect, camouflage, cloak, conceal, counterfeit, cover, cover up, dissimulate, double-talk, doublespeak, dress up, fake, falsify, feign, four-flush, hide, let on, make like, mask, pass, play possum, pussyfoot, put on a false front, put on a front, put on an act, put up a front, put up a smoke screen, sham*, shroud, shuck and jive, signify, simulate, stonewall, whitewash |
| Notes: | dissemble means to conceal, to give a false appearance; disassemble means to take apart |
| Antonyms: | admit, allow |
| Main Entry: | elude |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | avoid; escape |
| Synonyms: | baffle, be beyond someone, beat around the bush, bilk, circumvent, confound, cop out, ditch, dodge, double, duck, eschew, evade, flee, fly, foil, frustrate, get around, get away from, give the runaround, give the slip, give wide berth to, hem and haw, not touch, outrun, outwit, pass the buck, pass up, puzzle, run around, shirk, shuck, shun, shy, stall, stay shy of, steer clear of, stonewall, stump, thwart |
| Notes: | elude means to escape or evade from while allude means to make a more or less indirect reference to |
| Antonyms: | attract, confront, encounter, entice, face, invite, meet, take on |
| Main Entry: | equivocate |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | avoid an issue |
| Synonyms: | beat around the bush, beg the question, blow hot and cold, cavil, cloud the issue, con, cop a plea, cop out, cover up, dodge, double-talk, elude, escape, eschew, evade, falsify, fence, fib, flip-flop, fudge, give run around, hedge, hem and haw, jive, lie, mince words, palter, parry, pass the buck, prevaricate, pussyfoot, quibble, run around, shuck, shuffle, sidestep, sit on the fence, stonewall, tell white lie, tergiversate, tergiverse, waffle, weasel |
| Antonyms: | face, meet, speak on |
| Main Entry: | equivocation |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | avoidance of an issue |
| Synonyms: | ambiguity, amphibology, casuistry, coloring, con, cop out, cover, cover-up, deceit, deception, deceptiveness, delusion, dissimulation, distortion, double entendre, double meaning, double talk, doubtfulness, duplicity, equivocality, evasion, fallacy, fib, fibbing, hedging, lie, line*, lying, misrepresentation, prevarication, quibbling routine, run-around, shuffling, song and dance, song*, sophistry, speciousness, spuriousness, stall, stonewall, tergiversation, waffle |
| Antonyms: | directness, facing, meeting |
| Main Entry: | evasion |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | escape, avoidance |
| Synonyms: | artifice, circumvention, cop-out, cunning, ditch*, dodge*, dodging, elusion, equivocating, equivocation, eschewal, evading, evasiveness, excuse, fancy footwork, fudging, fugiviteness, fugivity, jive, lie, obliqueness, pretext, prevarication, quibble, routine, run-around, ruse, shift, shirking, shuffling, shunning, slip*, sophism, sophistry, stall, stonewall, subterfuge, trick, trickery |
| Antonyms: | directness, facing, meeting |