Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- n. An equivocal word or expression.
- n. A pun.
- n. A double meaning.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- adj. Equivocal.
- n. A play on words, a pun.
- n. Ambiguity or double meaning.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
- n. An ambiguous term; a word susceptible of different significations.
- n. An equivocation; a guibble.
Etymologies
Examples
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How many times, after an equivoque, after the specious and treacherous reasoning of egotism, had he heard his irritated conscience cry in his ear: “A trip! you wretch!”
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It almost always turns upon false relations and equivoque, whence jokers by profession usually possess minds as incorrect as they are superficial.
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Such was the very philosophical address of Mr. Robert Bolton, a shorthand – writer, as he termed himself — a bit of equivoque passing current among his fraternity, which must give the uninitiated a vast idea of the establishment of the ministerial organ, while to the initiated it signifies that no one paper can lay claim to the enjoyment of their services.
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Calton was too much inwrapped in the contemplation of his happiness to see the equivoque between Hicks and himself; and threw himself back in his chair.
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This equivoque has been introduced by intolerant moralists, who, deceived by too much zeal, saw excesses where there was only innocent enjoyment.
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Yet even the writer to whom I allude shares the mistake about the authorship, and does me the injustice to suppose that there was equivoque in my former rejection of this honour (as an honour I regard it).
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May I assure him that I would scorn in this and in every other case to deal in equivoque; I believe language to have been given us to make our meaning clear, and not to wrap it in dishonest doubt.
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Hence we find _Henrico, Felicia_, and the Queen together, going through a well-contrived and charmingly-conducted scene of equivoque -- the Queen questioning _Henrico_ touching the state of his heart, and he answering her in reference to _Felicia_, who is leaning over the embroidery frame behind the Queen, and out of her sight.
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Every thing, in a word, is tolerated which can in any way be passed into an equivoque.
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I hear of no news; that of the Duchess of Leinster's (118) match is very equivoque; and extreme their drawing-room.
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