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allude

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The definition of allude is to drop a hint about something, but not go into details or specifics.

(verb)

An example of allude is when a person mentions he needs to make a doctor appointment, but don’t say why he needs to.

See allude in Webster's New World College Dictionary

intransitive verb alluded, alluding

to refer in a casual or indirect way (to)

Origin: L alludere, to joke, jest < ad-, to + ludere, to play: see ludicrous

See allude in American Heritage Dictionary 4

intransitive verb al·lud·ed, al·lud·ing, al·ludes

To make an indirect reference: The candidate alluded to the recent war by saying, “We've all made sacrifices.”

Origin:

Origin: Latin allūdere, to play with

Origin: : ad-, ad-

Origin: + lūdere, to play (from lūdus, game; see leid- in Indo-European roots)

Usage Note: Allude and allusion are often used where the more general terms refer and reference would be preferable. Allude and allusion normally apply to indirect references in which the source is not specifically identified: “Well, we'll always have Paris,” he told the travel agent, in an allusion to Casablanca. Refer and reference, unless qualified, usually imply specific mention of a source: I will refer to Hamlet for my conclusion: As Polonius says, “Though this be madness, yet there is method in't.” See Usage Note at refer.

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