▪ I. amaze, v.
(əˈmeɪz)
Also, 3–7 amase.
[f. a- prefix 1 ? intensive + maze.]
† 1. To put out of one's wits; to stun or stupefy, as by a blow on the head; to infatuate, craze. Obs.
| c 1230 Ancr. R. 270 Nis he witterlich amased & ut of his witte. 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas. xxx. xii, It was no wonder that I was amazed, My herte and minde she had so tane in cure. 1530 Palsgr. 421/1 You will amase hym with beatyng of hym thus aboute the heed. He was so amased with the stroke that he was redy to fall downe. 1553 Udall Roister Doister iv. vii, To be amased with the smoke. 1642 Rogers Naaman 44 The Lord..smote him to the ground, and amazed him. |
† 2. To drive one to his wit's end, bewilder, perplex. Obs.
| 1563 Homilies ii. ii. iii. (1640) 70 They dull and amaze the understanding of the unlearned. 1603 Drayton Heroic. Ep. xi. 136 Let not the Beames, that Greatnesse doth reflect, Amaze thy Hopes. 1609 C. Butler Fem. Mon. (1634) 135 The Snow amazeth them, and, dazzling their eyes, causeth them presently to fall. 1642 H. More Song of Soul ii. App. lxxix, That which well amazen may The wisest man and puzzle evermore. |
† 3. To overcome with sudden fear or panic; to fill with consternation, terrify, alarm. Obs.
| 1530 Palsgr. 421/1, I amase, I fray sodenly, Jesgare. 1603 Drayton Odes xvii. 27 Though they to one be ten, Be not amazed. 1653 Walton Angler 109 The sight of any shadow amazes the fish. 1706 tr. Dupin's Eccl. Hist. 16th C. II. iii. ii. 35 Besides it is the Duty of a Preacher to amaze a Sinner. |
4. To overwhelm with wonder, to astound or greatly astonish.
| 1592 Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 634 Crystal eyne, Whose full perfection all the world amazes. 1766 H. Brooke Fool of Quality (1859) II. 9 You amaze me greatly—is this all the notice and care they take of such a treasure? 1824 Dibdin Libr. Comp. 185 Would startle the sensitive, and even amaze the incredulous. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. 33 A young man, whose eccentric career was destined to amaze Europe. |
† 5. refl. To bewilder, puzzle, or drive oneself stupid. Obs.
| 1645 Milton Colast. (1851) 357, I amaze me. 1653 Walton Angler 98, I might easily amaze my self, and tire you in a relation of them. a 1678 Marvell Poems Wks. 1776 III. 412 How vainly men themselves amaze, To win the palm, the oak, or bays. |
6. intr. To be astounded or stupefied. arch.
| 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie (1869) 240 It would so make the chast eares amaze. 1593 Peele Edw. I, 79 Madam, amaze not. 1875 B. Taylor Faust i. i. II. 5 Eye is blinded, ear amazes. Ibid. iv. i. II. 236 Men amaze thereat. |
▪ II. amaze, n.
(əˈmeɪz)
[f. the vb.]
= amazement. (Amaze and a maze were often identified.)
† 1. Loss of one's wits, mental stupefaction, craze. Obs.
| 1430 Lydg. Chron. Troy i. v, To gape and loke as it were in a mase. 1586 Lupton Thousand Notable Things (1675) 281 The gentleman was stricken in amaze, fell sick, and died. |
† 2. Bewilderment, mental confusion. Obs.
| 1593–1622 R. Hawkins Voy. S. Sea 52 Heaving the lead in fourteene fathoms, wee had ground, which put us all into a maze. 1616 Trav. Eng. Pilgr. in Harl. Misc. I. 351, I was in amaze, and knew not what to do. 1671 Milton P.R. ii. 38 Soon our joy is turn'd Into perplexity and new amaze. 1754 Mrs. Delany Lett. 278 Our god-daughter is pretty well, still in a whirl and an amaze. |
† 3. Loss of presence of mind through terror, panic. Obs.
| 1601 Weever Mirr. Martyrs E viij, What forme most terrour and amaze will show. 1665 Manley Grotius's L. Countr. Wars 811 Thus once more brought into an amaze, they fled absolutely. a 1703 Pomfret Poet. Wks. (1833) 97 Strike the affrighted nations with a wild amaze. 1718 Pope Iliad v. 35 Struck with amaze and shame, the Trojan crew Or slain or fled, the sons of Dares view. 1766 Goldsmith Vic. W. xi. (1857) 63 The whole rout was in amaze. |
4. Extreme astonishment, wonder. (Now chiefly poetical, amazement being usual in prose.)
| 1579 Lyly Euphues (1868) 251 A Cathedrall Church, the very Maiestie whereoff, stroke them into a maze. 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. ii. 246 His faces owne margent did coate such amazes, That all eyes saw his eies inchanted with gazes. 1647 May Hist. Parl. iii. v. 100 An amaze, that the besieged should continue in such an height of resolution. 1713 Addison Cato iv. iii. 58 With pleasure and amaze, I stand transported! 1741 Richardson Pamela I. 64 She stood all in Amaze, and look'd at me from Top to Toe. 1880 Howells Undisc. Country v. 85 He stared at Ford in even more amaze than anger. |