Baffle \Baf"fle\ (b[a^]f"f'l), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Baffled}
(-f'ld); p. pr. & vb. n. {Baffling} (-fl[i^]ng).] [Cf.
Lowland Scotch bauchle to treat contemptuously, bauch
tasteless, abashed, jaded, Icel. b[=a]gr uneasy, poor, or
b[=a]gr, n., struggle, b[ae]gja to push, treat harshly, OF.
beffler, beffer, to mock, deceive, dial. G. b[aum]ppe mouth,
beffen to bark, chide.]
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1. To cause to undergo a disgraceful punishment, as a
recreant knight. [Obs.]
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He by the heels him hung upon a tree,
And baffled so, that all which passed by
The picture of his punishment might see. --Spenser.
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2. To check by shifts and turns; to elude; to foil.
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The art that baffles time's tyrannic claim.
--Cowper.
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3. To check by perplexing; to disconcert, frustrate, or
defeat; to thwart. "A baffled purpose." --De Quincey.
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A suitable scripture ready to repel and baffle them
all. --South.
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Calculations so difficult as to have baffled, until
within a . . . recent period, the most enlightened
nations. --Prescott.
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The mere intricacy of a question should not baffle
us. --Locke.
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{Baffling wind} (Naut.), one that frequently shifts from one
point to another.
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Syn: To balk; thwart; foil; frustrate; defeat.
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