FluentPlex

baffle

/ˈbæf(ə)l/ verb C1
  1. To confuse or perplex (someone) completely; to bewilder, to confound, to puzzle. (transitive) · I am baffled by the contradictions and omissions in the instructions.· They were baffled as to how the confusion could have arisen.
  2. To dampen, muffle, restrain, or otherwise control (a fluid, or waves travelling through a fluid such as light or sound). (transitive)
  3. To expend effort or struggle in vain. (intransitive) · The ship, baffling with the winds, moved not an inch.

Plural baffle · He/she/it baffles · Past baffled · Past participle baffled · -ing form baffling

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Verb forms

Base form
baffle
He/she/it
baffles
Past
baffled
Past participle
baffled
-ing form
baffling

From the library

The mere sight of his excellent appetite was an assurance of success; for I had very clear recollections of days and nights without a thought of food, when his baffled mind had chafed before some problem while his thin, eager features became more attenuated with the asceticism of complete mental concentration.
The Valley of Fear, p. 66 · C1
His face turned upon us with a glare of baffled rage, which gradually softened into a rather shamefaced grin as he realized that two pistols were pointed at his head.
The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes, p. 91 · B2
He tried to steal in, but was baffled by your wakefulness.
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, p. 99 · B2
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, p. 116 · B2

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Words, meanings, pronunciations and translations from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); how common each word is from wordfreq. Made into this dictionary by FluentPlex.