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Definition of Baffle
1. Verb. Be a mystery or bewildering to. "The good news will baffle her"; "This question really stuck me"
Specialized synonyms: Mix Up, Stump, Riddle, Elude, Escape
Generic synonyms: Bedevil, Befuddle, Confound, Confuse, Discombobulate, Fox, Fuddle, Throw
Derivative terms: Bafflement, Bewilderment, Mystery, Mystification, Mystification, Mystifier, Poser, Puzzle, Puzzlement, Puzzler, Stupefaction
Also: Puzzle Out, Puzzle Over
2. Noun. A flat plate that controls or directs the flow of fluid or energy.
3. Verb. Hinder or prevent (the efforts, plans, or desires) of. "Sam cannot baffle Sue "; "Foil your opponent"
Specialized synonyms: Disappoint, Let Down, Dash, Short-circuit, Ruin
Generic synonyms: Forbid, Foreclose, Forestall, Preclude, Prevent
Derivative terms: Cross, Foiling, Frustration, Frustration, Frustration, Frustrative, Thwarter, Thwarting
Also: Double Cross
4. Verb. Check the emission of (sound).
Generic synonyms: Bound, Confine, Limit, Restrain, Restrict, Throttle, Trammel
Definition of Baffle
1. v. t. To cause to undergo a disgraceful punishment, as a recreant knight.
2. v. i. To practice deceit.
3. n. A defeat by artifice, shifts, and turns; discomfiture.
4. n. A deflector, as a plate or wall, so arranged across a furnace or boiler flue as to mingle the hot gases and deflect them against the substance to be heated.
Definition of Baffle
1. Noun. A device used to restrain or regulate, e.g. sound, light, gas, or a fluid. ¹
2. Noun. An architectural feature designed to confuse enemies or make them vulnerable ¹
3. Verb. Totally bewilder; confuse or perplex. ¹
¹ Source: wiktionary.com
Definition of Baffle
1. to confuse [v -FLED, -FLING, -FLES] - See also: confuse
Medical Definition of Baffle
1. 1. To cause to undergo a disgraceful punishment, as a recreant knight. "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) 2. To check by shifts and turns; to elude; to foil. "The art that baffles time's tyrannic claim." (Cowper) 3. To check by perplexing; to disconcert, frustrate, or defeat; to thwart. "A baffled purpose." "A suitable scripture ready to repel and baffle them all." (South) "Calculations so difficult as to have baffled, until within a . . . Recent period, the most enlightened nations." (Prescott) "The mere intricacy of a question should not baffle us." (Locke) Baffling wind, one that frequently shifts from one point to another. Synonym: To balk, thwart, foil, frustrate, defeat. Origin: Cf. Lowland Scotch bauchle to treat contemptuously, bauch tasteless, abashed, jaded, Icel. Bagr uneasy, poor, or bagr, n, struggle, baegja to push, treat harshly, OF. Beffler, beffer, to mock, deceive, dial. G. Bappe mouth, beffen to bark, chide. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)
Lexicographical Neighbors of Baffle
Literary usage of Baffle
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. Steam Power Plant Engineering by George Frederick Gebhardt (1913)
"430 shows a section through an Austin separator and ill» another class embodying
the fluted baffle- plate principle. The steam in passing through the ..."
2. Chronological History of the West Indies by Thomas Southey (1827)
"such fury as to baffle every effort to extinguish it. By great exertions the
dock-yard was saved. Thefollowing Statistical Reports are extracted from the ..."
3. A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language by Walter William Skeat (1901)
"Dr. Murray shews that badger = animal with a badge or stripe. See above. baffle,
to foil, disgrace. (F. ?-G.?) A Scotch word, as explained in Hall's Chron. ..."
4. Famous Composers and Their Works by John Knowles Paine, Theodore Thomas, Karl Klauser (1891)
"Desirous of meeting success, withal patient, persevering and gifted with an energy
which nothing could baffle, he sought it in all MEYERBEER IN HIS EIGHTH ..."
5. The Works of Rufus Choate: With a Memoir of His Life by Rufus Choate, Samuel Gilman Brown (1862)
"... and whether they, or such as they, who surrendered to the candidate at Baltimore,
would be very likely to beard and baffle the incumbent at Washington. ..."
6. A Plea for the West by Lyman Beecher (1835)
"All combinations to forestall and baffle its movements tend to the destruction
of liberty. Its fluctuations are indeed an evil; but the power to arrest its ..."
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