allude (verb) – to mention indirectly, to hint
allusion (noun) – hint
Mark Freeth
Examples:
My friend must have been alluding to my husband when she said something about that man in my life.
Were you alluding to me when you said that so many people nowadays are badly out of shape?
“Paradise Lost” alludes to the story of Adam and Eve in the Bible.
Scholars have written books full about the allusions in Elliot’s “Waste Land.”
The student asked me to explain the allusion to the Grim Reaper.