boggle

(literally or figuratively) to stop or hesitate as if suddenly seeing a bogle.intransitivetransitive

• The dogs went on, but the horse boggled at the sudden appearance of the strange beast.
• The horror of the deed and its consequences boggle the imagination.

To be bewildered, dumbfounded, or confused.intransitive

• He boggled at the surprising news.
• The mind boggles.

To confuse or mystify; overwhelm.transitive

• The vastness of space really boggles the mind.
• The oddities of quantum mechanics can boggle the minds of students and experienced physicists alike.

To embarrass with difficulties; to palter or equivocate; to bungle or botchUSdialectal

To dissemble; to play fast and loose (with someone or something).intransitiveobsolete

• I would be loth to exchange consciences with them, and boggle so with God Almighty; but these men by a new kind of Metaphysick have found out a way to abstract the Person of the King from his Office to make his Soveraigntie a kinde of Plato

To wiggle the eyes as a result of bruxing.intransitive

A scruple or objection.dated

A bungle; a botched situation.dated

Alternative form of bogle.alt-ofalternative