Sub"ter*fuge (?), n. [F., from LL.
subterfugium, fr. L. subterfugere to flee secretly, to
escape; subter under + fugere to flee. See
Fugitive.] That to which one resorts for escape or
concealment; an artifice employed to escape censure or the force of an
argument, or to justify opinions or conduct; a shift; an
evasion.
Affect not little shifts and subterfuges, to
avoid the force of an argument.
I. Watts.
By a miserable subterfuge, they hope to render
this position safe by rendering it nugatory.
Burke.