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Citations:baffle

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English citations of baffle

1851 1969
ME « 15th c. 16th c. 17th c. 18th c. 19th c. 20th c. 21st c.

Etymology 1

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Verb

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  1. (transitive)
    1. To confuse or perplex (someone) completely; to bewilder, to confound, to puzzle. [from 17th c.]
    2. (technology) To muffle, restrain, or otherwise control (a fluid, or waves travelling through a fluid such as sound).
      • 1924 August, John Crowe Ransom, “Good Ships”, in Chills and Fever: Poems, New York, N.Y.: Alfred A[braham] Knopf, →OCLC, stanza 1, page 54:
        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.