allude

allude to (something)

1. To indirectly or vaguely refer to something. What exactly are you alluding to? Just come right out and say it! I'm not playing that game, Rob. If there's something wrong, just say it—don't just keep alluding to it passive aggressively. He was alluding to us being in a serious relationship, so I told him directly that this was just a fling.

2. To reference another source. Shakespeare alludes to the Bible in many of his works. OK, Class, what literary work is Hansberry alluding to with the title A Raisin in the Sun? Thank goodness The Waste Land has so many footnotes. I had no idea what Eliot was alluding to half the time!

See also: allude, to

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

allude to someone or something

to refer to someone or something; to make an implication about someone or something. I did not mean to allude to someone you disliked so much. I alluded to the accident only once.

See also: allude, to

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.