All 3 Uses of

equivocate
in
Middlemarch

The quick vision that his life was after all a failure, that he was a dishonored man, and must quail before the glance of those towards whom he had habitually assumed the attitude of a reprover—that God had disowned him before men and left him unscreened to the triumphant scorn of those who were glad to have their hatred justified—the sense of utter futility in that equivocation with his conscience in dealing with the life of his accomplice, an equivocation which now turned venomously upon him with the full-grown fang of a discovered lie:—all this rushed through him like the agony of terror which fails to kill, and leaves the ears still open to the returning wave of execration.†
Chpt 7

equivocation = to speak in an ambiguous manner that does not clearly express an opinion or decision

The quick vision that his life was after all a failure, that he was a dishonored man, and must quail before the glance of those towards whom he had habitually assumed the attitude of a reprover—that God had disowned him before men and left him unscreened to the triumphant scorn of those who were glad to have their hatred justified—the sense of utter futility in that equivocation with his conscience in dealing with the life of his accomplice, an equivocation which now turned venomously upon him with the full-grown fang of a discovered lie:—all this rushed through him like the agony of terror which fails to kill, and leaves the ears still open to the returning wave of execration.†
Chpt 7

His equivocations with himself about the death of Raffles had sustained the conception of an Omniscience whom he prayed to, yet he had a terror upon him which would not let him expose them to judgment by a full confession to his wife: the acts which he had washed and diluted with inward argument and motive, and for which it seemed comparatively easy to win invisible pardon—what name would she call them by?†
Chpt 8 *

equivocations = things said in an ambiguous manner that does not clearly express opinions or decisions

Definitions:

(1) (equivocate)
to speak in an evasive or unclear way -- typically in an attempt to satisfy people who want different things or to avoid making a commitment
(2) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)
meaning too rare to warrant focus:

Word Mastery: In the field of logic, equivocation is a fallacy resulting from use of ambiguous language in an incompatible manner; e.g.:

1. Odd things arouse suspicion.
2. Seven is an odd number.
3. Therefore people are suspicious of the number, seven.