BAFFLE

baffle, baffle board

(noun) a flat plate that controls or directs the flow of fluid or energy

baffle, regulate

(verb) restrain the emission of (sound, fluid, etc.)

perplex, vex, stick, get, puzzle, mystify, baffle, beat, pose, bewilder, flummox, stupefy, nonplus, gravel, amaze, dumbfound

(verb) be a mystery or bewildering to; “This beats me!”; “Got me--I don’t know the answer!”; “a vexing problem”; “This question really stuck me”

thwart, queer, spoil, scotch, foil, cross, frustrate, baffle, bilk

(verb) hinder or prevent (the efforts, plans, or desires) of; “What ultimately frustrated every challenger was Ruth’s amazing September surge”; “foil your opponent”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Verb

baffle (third-person singular simple present baffles, present participle baffling, simple past and past participle baffled)

(obsolete) To publicly disgrace, especially of a recreant knight. [16th-17th c.]

(obsolete) To hoodwink or deceive (someone). [16th-18th c.]

To bewilder completely; to confuse or perplex. [from 17th c.]

Synonym: Thesaurus:confuse

(now rare) To foil; to thwart. [from 17th c.]

(intransitive) To struggle in vain. [from 19th c.]

Noun

baffle (plural baffles)

A device used to dampen the effects of such things as sound, light, or fluid. Specifically, a baffle is a surface which is placed inside an open area to inhibit direct motion from one part to another, without preventing motion altogether.

An architectural feature designed to confuse enemies or make them vulnerable.

(US, dialect, coal mining) A lever for operating the throttle valve of a winding engine.

Source: Wiktionary

Baf"fle, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Baffled (p. pr. & vb. n. Baffling (.] Etym: [Cf. Lowland Scotch bauchle to treat contemptuously, bauch tasteless, abashed, jaded, Icel. bagr uneasy, poor, or bagr, n., struggle, bægja to push, treat harshly, OF. beffler, beffer, to mock, deceive, dial. G. bäppe 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.

Baf"fle, v. i.

1. To practice deceit. [Obs.] Barrow.

2. To struggle against in vain; as, a ship baffles with the winds. [R.]

Baf"fle, n.

Definition: A defeat by artifice, shifts, and turns; discomfiture. [R.] "A baffle to philosophy." South.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition