SUB'TERFUGE, noun [Latin subter and fugio, to flee.] Literally, 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.
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI