The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Subterfuge \Sub"ter*fuge\, n. [F., from LL. subterfugium, fr. L.
   subterfugere to flee secretly, to escape; subter under +
   fugere to flee. See Fugitive.]
   That to which one resorts for escape or concealment; an
   artifice employed to escape censure or the force of an
   argument, or to justify opinions or conduct; a shift; an
   evasion.
   [1913 Webster]

         Affect not little shifts and subterfuges, to avoid the
         force of an argument.                    --I. Watts.
   [1913 Webster]

         By a miserable subterfuge, they hope to render this
         position safe by rendering it nugatory.  --Burke.
   [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

subterfuge
    n 1: something intended to misrepresent the true nature of an
         activity; "he wasn't sick--it was just a subterfuge"; "the
         holding company was just a blind" [syn: subterfuge,
         blind]