Confounding

4 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.
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              Let us go down, and there confound their language.
                                                    --Gen. xi. 7.
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     2. To mistake for another; to identify falsely.
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              They [the tinkers] were generally vagrants and
              pilferers, and were often confounded with the
              gypsies.                              --Macaulay.
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     3. To throw into confusion or disorder; to perplex; to strike
        with amazement; to dismay.
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              The gods confound...
              The Athenians both within and out that wall. --Shak.
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              They trusted in thee and were not confounded. --Ps.
                                                    xxii. 5.
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              So spake the Son of God, and Satan stood
              A while as mute, confounded what to say. --Milton.
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     4. To destroy; to ruin; to waste. [Obs.]
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              One man's lust these many lives confounds. --Shak.
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              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 The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  confounding \confounding\ adj.
     tending to contradict (a hypothesis).
  
     Syn: contradictory.
          [WordNet 1.5]

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

  confounding \confounding\ n.
     a mistake that results from taking one thing to be another.
  
     Syn: confusion, mix-up.
          [WordNet 1.5]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  confounding
       adj : that confounds or contradicts or confuses [syn: {contradictory}]