befool, v.
(bɪˈfuːl)
in 4–5 befole.
[f. be- 5 + fool n.]
1. trans. To make a fool of; to dupe, delude.
| 1393 Gower Conf. III. 236 Many wise Befoled have hem self er this. 1622 Heylin Cosmogr. iii. (1682) 220 Befooling him with as glorious Titles. 1673 H. Stubbe Furth. Vind. Dutch War App. 81 The old Rumpers were befoold by Cromwel. 1765 Wesley Wks. (1872) XII. 323 Be temperate in speaking: else Satan will befool you. 1831 Carlyle Sart. Res. ii. iii. 260 One age he is hagridden, bewitched; the next, priestridden, befooled. |
2. To treat as a fool, call ‘fool.’
| 1612 W. Sclater Sick Souls Salve 33 That rash censuring and befooling others. a 1617 Hieron Wks. II. 166 Who is hee, whom Salomon doth so often be-foole in his Prouerbs? 1684 Bunyan Pilgr. ii. 180 They..befooled themselves for setting a Foot out of Doors in that Path. 1864 Tennyson Aylmer's F. 590 Being much befool'd and idioted By the rough amity of the other. |
3. To squander foolishly, ‘fool away.’ rare.
| 1861 Smiles Engineers I. 468 In this way Sir Thomas seems to have befooled his estate, and it shortly after became the property of the Alsager family. |
Hence, beˈfooled, beˈfooling ppl. a.; beˈfooling vbl. n.; beˈfoolment n.
| 1677 Gilpin Dæmonol. (1867) 197 Either of these ways Satan makes use of for the befooling of men. 1681 Baxter Search Schism. iii. 44 A transitory befooling dream. 1842 Miall Nonconf. II. 8 Ah! we are a befooled people. 1881 Pall Mall G. 14 May 11/2 For the general befoolment of those easy souls. |