Sŭb'ter-fūge, n.

n. [Fr. subterfuge, Sp. & Pg. subterfugio, It. subterfugio, L. Lat. subterfugium, from Lat. subterfugere, to flee secretly, to escape, from prefix subter, under, and fugere, to flee.] 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. Watts.

By a miserable subterfuge, they hope to render this proposition safe, by denying its authority. Burke.