baffle

To confuse or perplex (someone) completely; to bewilder, to confound, to puzzle.transitive

• I am baffled by the contradictions and omissions in the instructions.
• They were baffled as to how the confusion could have arisen.

To defeat, frustrate, or thwart (someone or their efforts, plans, etc.); to confound, to foil.archaictransitive

• Chartophylax then obſerved hovv fatally human ſagacity vvas ſometimes baffled, and hovv often the moſt valuable diſcoveries are made by chance.
• The meek intelligence of thoſe dear eyes / (Bleſt be the art that can immortalize, / The art that baffles time's tyrannic claim / To quench it) here ſhines on me ſtill the ſame.

To defeat, frustrate, or thwart (someone or their efforts, plans, etc.); to confound, to foil.; Of weather or wind: to hinder or prevent (a ship or its crew) from advancing.archaicspecificallytransitive

• "She [the ship] behaves nobly," observed the captain, stepping aft to the binnacle, and looking at the compass; "if the wind does not baffle us, we shall weather."

To dampen, muffle, restrain, or otherwise control (a fluid, or waves travelling through a fluid such as light or sound).transitive

• Fleet ships encountering on the high seas / Who speak, and unto eternity diverge— / These hailed each other, poised on the loud surge / Of one of Mrs. Grundy's Tuesday teas, / Nor trimmed one sail to baffle the driving breeze.

To deceive or hoodwink (someone); to gull.obsoletetransitive

• And yet they cry out ſacrilege, that men vvill not be gulld and baffl'd the tenth of thir eſtates by giving credit to frivolous pretences of divine right.

Followed by away or out: to deprive of (something) through cheating or manipulation; also (followed by out of), to deprive of something by cheating or manipulating (someone).obsoletetransitive

• [T]he Lavv of God pardoning and unpardoning hath bin ſhamefully branded, for vvant of heed in gloſſing, to have eluded and baffl'd out, all Faith and chaſtity from the marriagebed of that holy ſeed, vvith politick and judicial adulteries.
• Parents vvill not be baffled out of their children by impudent gentlemen; nor is it fit they ſhould.

To expend effort or struggle in vain.intransitive

• The ship, baffling with the winds, moved not an inch.

To argue or complain in a petty or trivial manner; to quibble.intransitiveobsolete

• Were it not strangely absurd and unhandsome to say, I cannot wait on God, because I must speak with a friend; […] [I]s it then just or seemly, by such comparisons to disparage his favor, by such pretences to baffle with his goodness?

A device used to dampen, muffle, restrain, or otherwise control the movement of a fluid, or waves travelling through a fluid such as light or sound; specifically, a surface positioned inside an open area to inhibit direct motion from one place to another without preventing motion altogether.countableuncountable

• Tanker trucks use baffles to keep the liquids inside from sloshing around.

A lever for operating the throttle valve of a winding engine.UScountabledialectal

A device to prevent the spreading of sound or light.countableuncountable

• sound baffle

A barrier designed to obstruct and confuse enemies, rendering them vulnerable.countableuncountable

An argument or objection based on an ambiguity of wording or similar trivial circumstance; a minor complaint; a quibble.countableobsolete

• As to Nonplus an Ariſtotle vvould look, not only like a Slur to a particular Philoſopher, but like a Baffle to Philoſophy it ſelf.

To publicly disgrace (someone); specifically, a recreant knight.obsoletetransitive

• Then have the coppies of it paſted on poſts, / Like Phamplet titles that ſue to be ſold; / Have his diſgrace talk for Tobacco ſhops, / His picture bafful'd.
• 'Tis, they ſay, a Maxim among the Svvordsmen, That he that has once been baffled, is ever after an incompetent Challenger: […]

To treat (someone) with contempt; to disgrace; also, to speak of (someone or something) in contemptuous terms; to speak ill of, to vilify.obsoletetransitive

• Should we (as you) borrow all out of others, and gather nothing of our selues, our names would be baffuld on euerie booke-sellers stall, and not a chandler's mustard-pot would wipe his mouth with our wast paper.
• I muſt reſolve to fight this confounded Beau, vvill tell all the Tovvn, vvhat Men he baffles, as vvell as vvhat VVomen he lies vvith.

Intentional insult; affront; also, disgrace; (countable) an instance of this.obsoletetransitiveuncountable

• Novv that you intend to trail a Pike, and make Profeſſion of Arms, let me give you this Caveat, that nothing muſt be more precious to you than your Reputation. […] If you get but once handſomely off, you are made ever after; for you vvill b