Baffling

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  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.]
     [1913 Webster]
     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.
          [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Baffling \Baf"fling\ (b[a^]f"fl[i^]ng), a.
     Frustrating; discomfiting; disconcerting; as, baffling
     currents, winds, tasks. -- {Baff"ling*ly}, adv. --
     {Baff"ling*ness}, n.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  baffling
       adj : making great mental demands; hard to comprehend or solve; "a
             baffling problem"; "I faced the knotty problem of what
             to have for breakfast"; "a problematic situation at
             home" [syn: {knotty}, {problematic}, {problematical}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  21 Moby Thesaurus words for "baffling":
     bewildering, bothering, confounding, confusing, defeating,
     discomposing, disconcerting, dismaying, distracting, disturbing,
     embarrassing, enigmatic, frustrating, intricate, mysterious,
     mystifying, perplexing, perturbing, problematic, puzzling,
     upsetting