Baffle \Baf"fle\ (b[a^]f"f'l), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Baffled
(-f'ld); p. pr. & vb. n. Baffling (-fl[i^]ng).]
[Cf.
Lowland Scotch bauchle to treat contemptuously, bauch
tasteless, abashed, jaded, Icel. b[=a]gr uneasy, poor, or
b[=a]gr, n., struggle, b[ae]gja to push, treat harshly, OF.
beffler, beffer, to mock, deceive, dial. G. b["a]ppe mouth,
beffen to bark, chide.]
1. To cause to undergo a disgraceful punishment, as a
recreant knight. [Obs.]
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.'' --De Quincey.
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 (Naut.), one that frequently shifts from one
point to another.
Syn: To balk; thwart; foil; frustrate; defeat.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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