dodge / däj/ • v. [tr.] 1. avoid (someone or something) by a sudden quick movement: we ducked inside our doorway to dodge shrapnel that was raining down. ∎  [intr.] move quickly to one side or out of the way: Adam dodged between the cars. ∎  avoid (something) in a cunning or dishonest way: he went after people who had either dodged the war or invented a record in it.2. [often as n.] (dodging) Photog. expose (one area of a print) less than the rest during processing or enlarging.• n. a sudden quick movement to avoid someone or something. ∎  a cunning trick or dishonest act, in particular one intended to avoid something unpleasant: bartering can be seen as a tax dodge.

dodge haggle, trifle XVI; avoid an encounter with; move to and fro XVII. of unkn. orig.
So sb. XVI.