BAFFLE

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does baffle mean? 

• BAFFLE (noun)
  The noun BAFFLE has 1 sense:

1. a flat plate that controls or directs the flow of fluid or energy

  Familiarity information: BAFFLE used as a noun is very rare.

• BAFFLE (verb)
  The verb BAFFLE has 3 senses:

1. be a mystery or bewildering to

2. hinder or prevent (the efforts, plans, or desires) of

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

  Familiarity information: BAFFLE used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BAFFLE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A flat plate that controls or directs the flow of fluid or energy

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

baffle; baffle board

Hypernyms ("baffle" is a kind of...):

plate (a sheet of metal or wood or glass or plastic)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "baffle"):

diffuser; diffusor (baffle that distributes sound waves evenly)

Derivation:

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

• BAFFLE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they baffle    ... he / she / it baffles   
Past simple: baffled   
Past participle: baffled   
-ing form: baffling   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Be a mystery or bewildering to

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

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

Context example:

This question really stuck me

Hypernyms (to "baffle" is one way to...):

bedevil; befuddle; confound; confuse; discombobulate; fox; fuddle; throw (be confusing or perplexing to; cause to be unable to think clearly)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "baffle"):

mix up; stump (cause to be perplexed or confounded)

riddle (set a difficult problem or riddle)

elude; escape (be incomprehensible to; escape understanding by)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s somebody

Sentence examples:

The bad news will baffle him
The good news will baffle her
The performance is likely to baffle Sue

Derivation:

bafflement (confusion resulting from failure to understand)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Hinder or prevent (the efforts, plans, or desires) of

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

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

Context example:

foil your opponent

Hypernyms (to "baffle" is one way to...):

forbid; foreclose; forestall; preclude; prevent (keep from happening or arising; make impossible)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "baffle"):

disappoint; let down (fail to meet the hopes or expectations of)

dash (destroy or break)

short-circuit (hamper the progress of; impede)

ruin (destroy or cause to fail)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 3

Meaning:

Restrain the emission of (sound, fluid, etc.)

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

baffle; regulate

Hypernyms (to "baffle" is one way to...):

hold back; keep; keep back; restrain (prevent the action or expression of)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

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

 Context examples 

There he turned and spoke to us:—You think to baffle me, you—with your pale faces all in a row, like sheep in a butcher's.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Mars is covered in gullies and dry riverbeds, but scientists have always been baffled as to how water could have existed on the freezing world.

(Methane Gas May Have Caused Greenhouse Effect on Young Mars, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

But he was baffled by lack of preparation.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Perhaps, also, it was the elemental simplicity of his mind that baffled me.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Problems may be solved in the study which have baffled all those who have sought a solution by the aid of their senses.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

From the baffled look upon Holmes’s face, I could see clearly that he did.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

You do not imagine that if I were the pursuer I should allow myself to be baffled by so slight an obstacle.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Astronomers have four theories to explain the baffling X-ray glow, three of which involve different classes of stellar corpses.

(NASA's NuSTAR Captures Possible 'Screams' from Zombie Stars, NASA)

There was no thick mat of fur to baffle White Fang's teeth as they were often baffled by dogs of his own breed.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Baffled so far, I changed my ground.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)