FUDGE Definition & Meaning

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fudge

[fuhj]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

a soft candy made of sugar, butter, milk, chocolate, and sometimes nuts.

fudge

[fuhj]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

verb (used without object)

fudged, fudging

to cheat (often followed byon ).
How many of you have fudged on your taxes?
to fail to fulfill an obligation.
For a variety of reasons, they had fudged on their promise.
to avoid coming to grips with a subject, issue, etc..
He fudged on the matter of whether he would retire at the end of his three-year term.
to tamper with or misrepresent something, as to produce a desired result or allow leeway for error.
Some of the men and women fudged on their ages.

verb (used with object)

fudged, fudging

to avoid coming to grips with (a subject, issue, etc.); evade; dodge.
He fudged a few of the direct questions.
to tamper with or misrepresent.
The suggestion is that they simply fudged the figures to make sales look more impressive.

noun

Printing.

a small stereotype or a few lines of specially prepared type, bearing a newspaper bulletin, for replacing a detachable part of a page plate without the need to replate the entire page.
the bulletin thus printed, often in color.
a machine or attachment for printing such a bulletin.

fudge

[fuhj]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

nonsense or foolishness (often used as an interjection).

verb (used without object)

fudged, fudging

to talk nonsense.

fudge

/ ��ʌ�� /

noun

a small section of type matter in a box in a newspaper allowing late news to be included without the whole page having to be remade
the box in which such type matter is placed
the late news so inserted
a machine attached to a newspaper press for printing this
an unsatisfactory compromise reached to evade a difficult problem or controversial issue

verb

(tr) to make or adjust in a false or clumsy way
(tr) to misrepresent; falsify
to evade (a problem, issue, etc); dodge; avoid

fudge

/ ��ʌ�� /

noun

foolishness; nonsense

interjection

a mild exclamation of annoyance

verb

(intr) to talk foolishly or emptily

fudge

/ ��ʌ�� /

noun

a soft variously flavoured sweet made from sugar, butter, cream, etc

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51�Թ� History and Origins

Origin of fudge¹

An Americanism dating to 1895–1900; of uncertain origin; the word was early in its history associated with female college campuses, where fudge-making was popular; however, attempts to explain it as a derivative of fudge ² ( def. ) (preparing the candy supposedly being an excuse to “fudge” on dormitory rules) are dubious and probably after-the-fact speculation

Origin of fudge²

First recorded in 1665–75; origin uncertain; in earliest sense, “to contrive clumsily,” perhaps expressive variant of fadge “to fit, agree, do” (akin to Middle English feien, Old English ��ŧ�� “to fit together, join, bind”); fudge ¹ and fudge ³ are developments of this word or are independent coinages

Origin of fudge³

First recorded in 1690–1700; of uncertain origin; fudge ²

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51�Թ� History and Origins

Origin of fudge¹

C19: see _fadge

Origin of fudge²

C18: of uncertain origin

Origin of fudge³

C19: of unknown origin

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Hollywood-fashion, it fudges a bit about its age — to make itself older.

From

He said he could not imagine the investigators sitting around a table and choosing to fudge the data.

From

He commonly said that any numbers he didn't like were "fake" or "fudged."

From

Their consistency can range from soup-thin to thick and glossy — imagine everything from gazpacho to hot fudge — depending on ingredients and method.

From

Baier, who is not above fudging the facts in favor of Trump, came straight at Vance while discussing a disappointing first quarter.

From

Related 51�Թ�s

evade��
exaggerate��
falsify��
overstate��

fuddy-duddy fudge factor

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