prevaricate

当被问到为什么迟到时，他开始支支吾吾，而不是直接回答。

When asked why he was late, he started to ___prevaricate instead of giving a direct answer.

当被直截了当地问到失踪的竞选捐款时，那位财务主管开始闪烁其词，花了数分钟扯到无关的慈善活动上去。

When asked squarely about the missing campaign donations, the treasurer began to ___prevaricate, rambling about unrelated charity events for several minutes.

当 CEO 追问是谁把内部备忘录泄露给媒体时，半数员工开始支支吾吾。

Half the staff began to ___prevaricate when the CEO demanded to know who had leaked the internal memo to the press.