prevaricate

verb

Etymology: Borrowed from Latin praevāricātus, perfect active participle of praevāricor (“to walk crookedly; to play a false or double part”), from prae- + vāricō (“to stand with feet apart, straddle”), from vāricus (“with feet spread apart”); see -ate (verb-forming suffix).

1. To deviate, transgress; to go astray (from).
2. To speak or act in a manner that is intentionally ambiguous or evasive; equivocate.

   “The people saw the politician prevaricate every day.”

3. To collude, as where an informer colludes with the defendant, and makes a sham prosecution.
4. To undertake something falsely and deceitfully, with the purpose of defeating or destroying it.