Confound

3 definitions found

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

  Confound \Con*found"\ (k[o^]n*found"), v. t. [imp. & p. p.
     {Confounded}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Confounding}.] [F. confondre,
     fr. L. confundere, -fusum, to pour together; con- + fundere
     to pour. See {Fuse} to melt, and cf. {Confuse}.]
     1. To mingle and blend, so that different elements can not be
        distinguished; to confuse.


        [1913 Webster]
  
              They who strip not ideas from the marks men use for
              them, but confound them with words, must have
              endless dispute.                      --Locke.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Let us go down, and there confound their language.
                                                    --Gen. xi. 7.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. To mistake for another; to identify falsely.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              They [the tinkers] were generally vagrants and
              pilferers, and were often confounded with the
              gypsies.                              --Macaulay.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. To throw into confusion or disorder; to perplex; to strike
        with amazement; to dismay.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              The gods confound...
              The Athenians both within and out that wall. --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              They trusted in thee and were not confounded. --Ps.
                                                    xxii. 5.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              So spake the Son of God, and Satan stood
              A while as mute, confounded what to say. --Milton.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. To destroy; to ruin; to waste. [Obs.]
        [1913 Webster]
  
              One man's lust these many lives confounds. --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              How couldst thou in a mile confound an hour? --Shak.
  
     Syn: To abash; confuse; baffle; dismay; astonish; defeat;
          terrify; mix; blend; intermingle. See {Abash}.
          [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  confound
       v 1: be confusing or perplexing to; cause to be unable to think
            clearly; "These questions confuse even the experts";
            "This question completely threw me"; "This question
            befuddled even the teacher" [syn: {confuse}, {throw}, {fox},
             {befuddle}, {fuddle}, {bedevil}, {discombobulate}]
       2: mistake one thing for another; "you are confusing me with
          the other candidate"; "I mistook her for the secretary"
          [syn: {confuse}]

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

  251 Moby Thesaurus words for "confound":
     abash, accurse, addle, adulterate, alloy, amaze, anathematize,
     answer, answer conclusively, appall, argue down, astonish, astound,
     awe, awestrike, baffle, balk, ball up, bamboozle, beat, bedaze,
     bedazzle, befog, bewilder, blaspheme, blast, blur,
     blur distinctions, boggle, bollix up, bowl down, bowl over, brave,
     break, bring to ruin, buffalo, canker, cap, cast down, chagrin,
     challenge, cheapen, checkmate, circumvent, coarsen, complicate,
     condemn, confound, confront, confuse, confute, consume,
     contaminate, contradict, contravene, controvert, corrupt, counter,
     counteract, countermand, counterwork, cross, crush, curse, damn,
     darn, dash, daze, dazzle, deal destruction, debase, debauch,
     decimate, defeat, defile, deflower, defy, degenerate, degrade,
     demolish, denature, deny, deprave, depredate, desecrate, desolate,
     despoil, destroy, devalue, devastate, devour, discomfit,
     discompose, disconcert, disconfirm, discountenance, dish, dismay,
     dismiss, dispose of, disrupt, dissolve, distort, dumbfound,
     dumbfounder, elude, embarrass, embrangle, engorge, entangle, evert,
     excommunicate, execrate, faze, finish, flabbergast, floor, flummox,
     foil, foul up, frustrate, fuddle, fulminate against, fumble,
     garble, get, gobble, gobble up, gut, gut with fire, havoc, hex,
     implicate, imprecate, incinerate, infect, involve, jumble,
     jumble together, keep in suspense, knock the chocks, knot,
     lay in ruins, lay waste, lick, louse up, maze, mess up, misdeem,
     misidentify, misuse, mix, mix up, mortify, muck up, muddle,
     mystify, nonplus, overlook distinctions, overthrow, overturn,
     overwhelm, panic, paralyze, parry, perplex, pervert, petrify, pi,
     play hob with, poison, pollute, pose, prostitute, put out,
     put to flight, put to rout, put to silence, puzzle, ramify, rattle,
     ravage, ravel, ravish, rebut, reduce to silence, refute, riffle,
     rout, ruin, ruinate, sabotage, scatter, scotch, scramble, screw up,
     settle, shipwreck, shuffle, shut up, silence, smash all opposition,
     snafu, snarl, snarl up, spike, spoil, squash, squelch, stagger,
     stampede, startle, stick, stonewall, strike dead, strike dumb,
     strike with wonder, stumble, stump, stun, stupefy, subvert,
     surprise, swallow up, taint, take aback, tangle, throw,
     throw a whammy, throw into confusion, throw into disorder,
     thunder against, thwart, tumble, twist, ulcerate, undermine,
     unleash destruction, unleash the hurricane, upheave, upset,
     vandalize, vaporize, violate, vitiate, vulgarize, warp, waste,
     wrack, wreak havoc, wreck