different between baffle vs obstruct
baffle
English
Alternative forms
- bafful, baffol (both obsolete)
Etymology
Origin uncertain. Perhaps related to French bafouer (“to scorn”) or obsolete French befer (“to mock”), via Scots bauchle (“to disgrace”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /?bæfl?/
- Hyphenation: baf?fle
- Rhymes: -æf?l
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.]
- 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, VI.7:
- He by the heeles him hung upon a tree, / And baffuld so, that all which passed by / The picture of his punishment might see […].
- 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, VI.7:
- (obsolete) To hoodwink or deceive (someone). [16th-18th c.]
- a. 1677, Isaac Barrow, The Duty of Prayer (sermon)
- pretences to baffle with his goodness
- a. 1677, Isaac Barrow, The Duty of Prayer (sermon)
- To bewilder completely; to confuse or perplex. [from 17th c.]
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:confuse
- 1843, William H. Prescott, The History of the Conquest of Mexico
- computations, so difficult as to have baffled, till a comparatively recent period, the most enlightened nations
- Every abstruse problem, every intricate question will not baffle, discourage or break it [the mind]
- (now rare) To foil; to thwart. [from 17th c.]
- 1798, William Cowper, On the Receipt of My Mother's Picture
- the art that baffles time's tyrannic claim
- a suitable scripture ready to repel and baffle them all
- 1915, Edward Plunkett, Lord Dunsany, Fifty-One Tales
- So they had to search the world again for a sphinx. And still there was none. But they were not men that it is easy to baffle, and at last they found a sphinx in a desert at evening watching a ruined temple whose gods she had eaten hundreds of years ago when her hunger was on her.
- 1798, William Cowper, On the Receipt of My Mother's Picture
- (intransitive) To struggle in vain. [from 19th c.]
Translations
Derived terms
- bafflegab
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.
Descendants
- ? French: baffle
- ? Spanish: bafle
Translations
Further reading
- “baffle”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–present.
References
French
Etymology
Borrowed from English baffle.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /bafl/
Noun
baffle m or f (plural baffles)
- speaker (audio)
- Synonym: haut-parleur
baffle From the web:
- what baffled means
- what baffles me
- what baffled military leaders
- what baffles you
- what baffle does mean
- bafflement meaning
- what baffle means in spanish
- what's baffle in german
obstruct
English
Etymology
From Latin past participle stem obstruct- (“blocked up”), from verb obstruere, from ob (“against”) + struere (“pile up, build”)
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /?b?st??kt/
- Rhymes: -?kt
Verb
obstruct (third-person singular simple present obstructs, present participle obstructing, simple past and past participle obstructed)
(Can we add an example for this sense?)
- To block or fill (a passage) with obstacles or an obstacle. See synonyms at block.
- To impede, retard, or interfere with; hinder.
- To get in the way of so as to hide from sight.
Synonyms
- See also Thesaurus:hinder
Derived terms
- deobstruct
- obstructed
- obstructedly
- unobstructed
- unobstructedly
Related terms
Translations
obstruct From the web:
- what obstructs marine flow
- what obstruction means
- what obstructive sleep apnea
- what obstructs wifi signals
- what obstruction of justice
- what obstructive jaundice
- what restrictions
- what restrictions apply to provisional licenses
Share
Tweet
+1
Share
Pin
Like
Send
Share
you may also like
- baffle vs obstruct
- euphuistic vs figurative
- easygoing vs obliging
- countless vs untold
- chunk vs fraction
- yowl vs squall
- tricky vs sharp
- glaring vs manifest
- maim vs scar
- regulation vs negotiation
- thoughtless vs insensitive
- handbill vs dodger
- induce vs drive
- revolting vs formidable
- thinker vs wit
- firstborn vs senior
- meet vs capable
- heady vs sparkling
- cool vs uninterested
- genealogy vs breed