▪ I. boggling, vbl. n.
(ˈbɒglɪŋ)
[f. as prec. + -ing1.]
The action of the vb. boggle.
| 1640 Shirley Arcadia ii. i, Leave Your bogling & your trim-tram tricks. 1656 R. Robinson Christ all 117 He keeps a huge bogling, he doth exceedingly dodge with Jesus Christ. 1834 C. C. F. Greville Mem. Geo. IV, (1875) III. xxiii. 79 He made a great boggling of reading his petition. |
▪ II. ˈboggling, ppl. a.
[f. as prec. + -ing2.]
That boggles; starting with fright; stickling; bungling.
| 1645 W. Lithgow Siege Newcastle (1820) 15 Like unto Calabrian Females with their bogling bushs. a 1683 Oldham Sat. Jesuits Wks. (1686) 10 Nice bogling consciences. 1870 R. Broughton Red as Rose 252, I can mend stockings in a boggling..sort of way. |
Add: 2. [After mind-boggling adj. s.v. mind n.1 21 b] That causes one to boggle or be overwhelmed; staggering, mind-boggling. Freq. as the second element in comb. with nouns.
| 1975 Economist 10 May 119/2 Merchant bankers Hill Samuel had unravelled a computer-boggling network of crossholdings. 1976 National Observer (U.S.) 31 Jan. 1/2 The press room..is a bit boggling. It is really a complex of rooms, encompassing a Western Union setup, [etc.]. 1985 N.Y. Times 18 Aug. v. 9/2 Per-mile costs fell fractionally as a result of the additional travel, whose total was a boggling 1.526 trillion miles. 1990 Which? Mar. 144/1 Serious damage can mean even more boggling bills, but at least your insurance should cover it. 1993 USA Weekend 8 Aug. 14/2 The mouth-boggling ‘Chatta-burger’ is the stuff dreams are made of. |