fudge

¹

[ fuhj ]

noun

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

fudge

²

[ fuhj ]

verb (used without object)

, fudged, fudg·ing.

1. to cheat (often followed by on ):

   How many of you have fudged on your taxes?

2. to fail to fulfill an obligation:

   For a variety of reasons, they had fudged on their promise.

3. 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.

4. 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, fudg·ing.

1. to avoid coming to grips with (a subject, issue, etc.); evade; dodge:

   He fudged a few of the direct questions.

2. to tamper with or misrepresent:

   The suggestion is that they simply fudged the figures to make sales look more impressive.

noun

, Printing.

1. 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.
2. the bulletin thus printed, often in color.
3. a machine or attachment for printing such a bulletin.

fudge

³

[ fuhj ]

noun

1. nonsense or foolishness (often used as an interjection).

verb (used without object)

, fudged, fudg·ing.

1. to talk nonsense.

fudge

¹

/ fʌdʒ /

noun

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

fudge

²

/ fʌdʒ /

noun

1. foolishness; nonsense

interjection

1. a mild exclamation of annoyance

verb

1. intr to talk foolishly or emptily

fudge

³

/ fʌdʒ /

noun

1. 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
2. the box in which such type matter is placed
3. the late news so inserted
4. a machine attached to a newspaper press for printing this
5. an unsatisfactory compromise reached to evade a difficult problem or controversial issue

verb

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

Word 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 fēgan “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

Word History and Origins

Origin of fudge¹

C19: of unknown origin

Origin of fudge²

C18: of uncertain origin

Origin of fudge³

C19: see fadge

Example Sentences

The “Change Is Brewing” flavor — comprising cold brew coffee ice cream with marshmallows and fudge brownies — aims to help “transform the nation’s approach to public safety,” the company said in support of the legislation.

From Washington Post

Cars lined up for miles behind the Trenton Bridge that links Mount Desert Island to the mainland, crawling past fudge shops, lobster pounds, weed dispensaries, motels and antique stores.

From Washington Post

Mississippi’s pie, a chocolate graham cracker crust, pumped with chocolate fudge and covered in fluffy whipped cream and chocolate shavings, went to Rachel, who Fong met during a hazy night of Karaoke the day she graduated college.

From Eater

A sweet licorice fudge called Kick was my favorite, and I preferred my salty licorice as a lozenge with a powder heart — Tyrkisk Peber is a classic example of salmiakki, the Finnish salty licorice.

From Eater

A mountain of whipped cream hides ice cream veined with what tastes like fudge in a nutty sundae.

From Washington Post

And the hot fudge is some of the best anywhere – thick and glossy black, just minimally sweet.

From The Daily Beast

Rather, I'm just incensed by those who fudge its ability beyond all recognition.

From The Daily Beast

But what I suspect he was trying to fudge before the residency panel was, indeed, his residency.

From The Daily Beast

And why is this guy always trying fudge something or another?

From The Daily Beast

The religious messages in the April holidays are pointed, unequivocal, impossible to fudge.

From The Daily Beast

"Fudge on your everlasting knitting," said Sal, snatching the sock from Mary's hands and making the needles fly nimbly.

From Project Gutenberg

They opened the packages of luncheon and ate with ravenous appetites, finishing off with fudge and cheese sticks.

From Project Gutenberg

"Here, eat this and stop quarreling," interrupted Molly, thrusting a plate of fudge before them.

From Project Gutenberg

Donald smiled to himself at the thought of the hard-case Bluenose mate having a penchant for chocolate “fudge.”

From Project Gutenberg

If mother happened to be out of chocolate, which sometimes occurred, Betsey made a fudge with cocoa or coffee.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• evade
• exaggerate
• falsify
• overstate