BOGGLE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does boggle mean? 

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

1. startle with amazement or fear

2. hesitate when confronted with a problem, or when in doubt or fear

3. overcome with amazement

  Familiarity information: BOGGLE used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BOGGLE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they boggle    ... he / she / it boggles   
Past simple: boggled   
Past participle: boggled   
-ing form: boggling   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Startle with amazement or fear

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

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

jump; start; startle (move or jump suddenly, as if in surprise or alarm)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sense 2

Meaning:

Hesitate when confronted with a problem, or when in doubt or fear

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

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

hesitate; waffle; waver (pause or hold back in uncertainty or unwillingness)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sense 3

Meaning:

Overcome with amazement

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

boggle; bowl over; flabbergast

Context example:

This boggles the mind!

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

surprise (cause to be surprised)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sentence examples:

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

 Context examples 

He and Addington have been boggling about the debts again.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

And here I find you, a man of sense, boggling about terms, when your client’s future and honour are at stake.

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

So I have got his things in order, and knit heels into two pairs of the socks, for they were boggled out of shape with his queer darns.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)