Elide means to slur over in pronunciation or to strike out something that is written.

However, I haven't seen it used as I saw it today:

"...Republicans have so successfully turned 'liberal' into a four lettered wrod that even liberals tend to shun the term and elide their own proud history."

Now, I do see that it can mean "To eliminate or leave out of consideration," so it is used correctly. I just haven't seen it used that way, have you? Is it more a general word than I have thought? I had always thought it to be more of a technical word.

I've only ever seen it in the phonetic sense, but the dictionary says it can mean 'strike out, suppress'. I hadn't made the connexion with 'collide': the root is 'strike'.

I can't bring to mind an example, but I have certainly seen "elide" used in the way Kalleh mentions, in addition to its use phonetically.

The 'strike out, suppress' sense of the word came out strongly in early March this year:

quote:

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When David Kay walked into the US Senate in late January, the question of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction had become entangled in a thick forest of evasions, euphemisms and elisions.

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From Guardian Unlimited

The expression "evasions, euphemisms and elisions" had a ring to it and inspired a limerick. (Probably too political to include here.)