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dodger

/ˈdɑdʒər/
/ˈdɒdʒə/
IPA guide

Other forms: dodgers

A dodger is a rascally, sneaky person who lies and tricks their way out of responsibilities or obligations. A tax dodger, for example, schemes to avoid paying taxes.

There are many kinds of dodgers — from fare dodgers who jump the subway turnstile rather than pay the fare, to draft dodgers who snuck to Canada during the Vietnam War, to avoid being drafted by the Army. The most famous dodger is probably the character in Charles Dickens' "Oliver Twist" known as The Artful Dodger, a skilled and savvy pickpocket. In the eighteenth century, it was common to use the word dodge to mean "swindle" or "play shifting tricks."

Definitions of dodger
  1. noun
    a shifty deceptive person
    synonyms: fox, slyboots
    see moresee less
    type of:
    beguiler, cheat, cheater, deceiver, slicker, trickster
    someone who leads you to believe something that is not true
  2. noun
    small oval cake of corn bread baked or fried (chiefly southern)
    synonyms: corn dab, corn dodger
    see moresee less
    type of:
    cornbread
    bread made primarily of cornmeal
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