▪ I. baffle, v.
(ˈbæf(ə)l)
Forms: 6 baffull, 7 baffol, -oul, -ul, -il(l, -el, 6–9 baffle.
[Etymology, and even immediate source, uncertain. Quoted in 1548 as Scotch, and in 1570 used by a Scotchman. Hence, naturally to be compared with Sc. bauchle, found in senses 1–3, from a century earlier, but itself of uncertain derivation. On the other hand we have F. beffler (Cotgr.) ‘to deceive, mocke, or gull with faire words,’ etc. (cf. sense 4), and bafouer, in Cotgr. baffoüer, ‘to hoodwinke; to deceive; to besmeare; also to baffle, abuse, reuile, disgrace, handle basely in tearmes, give reproachfull words of or vnto.’ Of these, beffler (in Rabelais 1533–53) is easily referred to OF. befe, beffe mockery, beffer to mock, beferie quibbling, deceit, = It. beffa, Sp. befa, OSp. and Pr. bafa, mockery, banter, It. beffare, Sp. befar, Pr. bafar, to mock, deride (which M. Paul Meyer would derive from Pr. baf! interjection expressing disdain), with which words also (though less securely) Diez and others connect bafouer, cited first from Montaigne, 1588–92. It is possible that two or even three distinct words are confused under baffle.]
I. To disgrace. [Cf. Sc. bauchle, F. bafouer.]
† 1. To subject to public disgrace or infamy; spec. to disgrace a perjured knight with infamy. Obs.
| 1548 Hall Chron. (1809) 559 He was content that the Scottes shoulde Baffull hym, which is a great reproache among the Scottes, and is used when a man is openly perjured, and then they make of him an Image paynted reverted with hys heles upwarde, with hys name wonderynge cryenge and blowing out of hym with hornes. 1570 in Churchyard Chippes (1817) 127, I will baffull your good name, sounde with the trumpet your dishonour, and paint your pictor with the heeles vpward, and beate it in despight of yourselfe. 1596 Spenser F.Q. vi. vii. 27 He by the heels him hung upon a tree And bafful'd so, that all which passed by The picture of his punishment might see. [See also v. iii. 37.] 1613 Beaum. & Fl. Hon. Man's Fort. iii. i, Have his disgrace talk for Tobacco shops, His picture bafful'd. 1660 Gentl. Call. v. 71 A Maxime among the Swordmen, That he that has once been baffled, is ever after an incompetent Challenger. |
† 2. gen. To disgrace, treat with contumely. Obs.
| 1592 Nashe P. Penilesse 17 b, Should we..borrow all out of others..our names should be baffuld on euerie Booke⁓sellers stall. 1609 Bp. Hall Dissuas. Popery (1627) 642 A religion that baffoules all temporall princes, making them stand bare-foot at their great bishops gate. 1693 Shadwell Volunteers iv. i, This confounded beau..will tell all the town what men he bafles. |
† 3. To speak to or of in terms of contempt; to vilify, ‘run down.’ Obs.
| 1674 Marvell Reh. Transp. ii. 291 You run down and Baffle that serious business of Regeneration. |
II. To cheat, juggle, bewilder, confound, foil. [Cf. F. beffler and bafouer.]
† 4. To hoodwink, gull, cheat. Obs.
| c 1590 Greene Fr. Bacon v. 83 But friends are men, and love can baffle lords. 1609 R. Armin Ital. Taylor (1880) 178 Such deedes must haue a reach of wit To baffill such as he. 1649 Milton Eikon. 163 The Scots would not be baffl'd with the pretence of a Coronation Oath. 1653 ― Hirelings Wks. (1851) 360 They cry out Sacrilege, that Men will not be gull'd and baffl'd..by giving credit to frivolous Pretences of divine Right. 1726 De Foe Hist. Devil ii. viii. (1840) 292 He had not a mind to cheat or baffle the poor man. |
† 5. a. intr. To juggle, shuffle, quibble. Obs.
| 1656 Trapp Exp. Matt. xxv. 11 Trifling and baffling with Christ. a 1677 Barrow Wks. III. 180 (T.) To what purpose can it be to juggle and baffle for a time? a 1733 North Life Guilford (1808) II. 78 (D.) The vexatious side baffled before the master, as long as he could, upon trifles. |
† b. to baffle out or baffle away (trans.). Obs.
| 1643 Milton Divorce Introd. Wks. (1851) 12 To have eluded and baffl'd out all Faith and chastity from the marriagebed. 1653 W. Mewe in Hartlib Ref. Commw. Bees 47 Relicks of his goodness, whereof we have baffled away the better part. |
† 6. trans. To bewilder, confuse, confound. Obs.
| 1649 G. Daniel Trinarch., Hen. V, 364 Let the rude Noyse of Bells enchant Dull Ears, And Bon-fires baffle Eyes. 1692 R. Lestrange Josephus' Wars i. xx. (1733) 605 And does not despair of baffling the Truth with a Trick. a 1704 T. Brown Oxf. Scholars Wks. 1730 I. 12 Their understandings have been so baffled with phrases and distinctions. |
† 7. To confound, bring to confusion, bring to nought. Obs.
| 1649 Milton Eikon. xxvii. 511 Whose sole word and will shall baffle..what all the wisdom of a Parlament hath bin deliberately framing. 1709 Steele & Add. Tatler No. 160 ¶15 To baffle Reproach with Silence. 1812 Crabbe Parting Hour 224 A wish so strong, it baffled his repose. |
8. To defeat anyone in his efforts; to frustrate or confound his plans, to foil: a. a person.
| 1675 Traherne Chr. Ethics xxi. 338 He is baffled from the acquisition of the most great and beautiful things. 1722 Wollaston Relig. Nat. v. 81 Both the beginnings and the ends of things..all conspire to baffle us. 1753 Hogarth Anal. Beauty v. 24 An old cunning one has baffled, and out-run the dogs. 1883 Froude Short Stud. IV. i. x. 111 Baffled by a problem which he has done his best to solve. |
b. actions, faculties, efforts, plans.
| 1692 Bentley Boyle Lect. 15 Whose Stolidity can baffle all Arguments. 1751 Johnson Rambl. No. 177 ¶8 How fatally human sagacity was sometimes baffled. 1781 J. Moore View Soc. It. I. i. 4 A rapidity which baffles all description. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. 164 To baffle curiosity by dry and guarded answers. 1868 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) II. vii. 107 The murderer baffled pursuit. |
c. Often said of the wind and weather defeating the efforts of a ship to advance.
| 1748 Anson Voy. ii. ix. 224 We were baffled for near a month..with tempestuous weather. 1833 Marryat P. Simple (1863) 102 If the wind does not baffle us, we shall weather. 1860 Maury Phys. Geog. Sea viii. §378 This current which baffled and beat back this fleet. |
d. In technical uses.
| 1883 Gresley Gloss. Coal Mining, Baffle, to brush out or mix fire-damp with air in order to render it non-explosive; a dangerous practice, and not now allowed. 1885 Marine Engineer 1 Apr. 3/2 The corrugations serve to break up the volume of steam, and also baffle the water passing through the condenser. 1909 Webster s.v., Plates are used for baffling the steam. |
† 9. to baffle out of: to do out of by baffling (in various senses); to cheat, juggle, shuffle, confuse, cajole, manœuvre (one) out of anything. Obs.
| 1652 Needham tr. Selden's Mare Cl. 467 So bold as to..endeavour to baffle him out of his Rights. 1673 Lady's Call. i. v. §20. 38 He..whom the fear of suffering can baffle out of anything he thinks just and honest. 1695 Parl. dissolved by Death P'cess Orange? 54 They were baffled and bantered out of their Design. 1748 Richardson Clarissa (1811) II. xxxv. 258 Parents will not be baffled out of their children by impudent gentlemen. |
III. 10. intr. To struggle ineffectually; to move, act, or exert oneself in a futile manner. (In north. dial. maffle.)
| 1860 Times 27 Feb., The ill-fated ship was seen baffling with a gale from the N.W. 1865 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. IV. 103 Let the Pandours baffle about. |
▪ II. baffle, n.1
(ˈbæf(ə)l)
[f. prec. vb.]
† 1. Disgrace, affront. Obs.
| c 1645 Howell Lett. (1726) ii. xiv, You will be free from all baffles and affronts. 1692 Bp. of Ely Answ. Touchstone A iij, It sculkt and durst not show its head, till they imagined that Baffle was forgot. |
† 2. A shuffle; quibbling, trifling. Obs.
| 1783 Ainsworth Lat. Dict. (Morell), A baffle, Nugæ. It is all a baffle, Meræ nugæ sunt. |
† 3. Confusion, discomfiture, check. Obs.
| 1628 Earle Microcosm. lxiv. 138 Other men's modesty..rescues him many times from a baffle. 1670 Cotton Espernon ii. viii. 373 After this baffle her Army had receiv'd. a 1745 Swift Wks. (1841) II. 72 That slight baffle it received at its first appearance in public. |
4. The state of one who is baffled or bewildered.
| 1843 Foster in Life & Corr. (1846) II. 458, I remained in a kind of baffle between that perfectly preserved image, and his actual appearance. |
5. = baffler. Also, any shielding device or structure, in many technical uses (see quots.); spec. an acoustic screen.
| 1881 Echo 12 Dec. 6/1 There is a fire-brick ‘baffle’ above, on which the hot air is discharged. 1913 V. B. Lewis Oil Fuel iv. 97 The top of the inlet tube for the sample of vapour is protected by a series of baffles. 1928 Wireless World 6 June 604/2 (caption) The baffle which greatly improves reproduction [of sound]..is incorporated in the cabinet. 1931 B.B.C. Year-Bk. 436/2 Baffle, a screen of non-resonant material, generally wood, largely used in conjunction with cone-type loud speakers instead of a horn, to ensure the radiation of the very low audible frequencies. 1939 in Henney & Dudley Handbk. Photogr. viii. 254 The use of baffles over the photoelectric cell [of an exposure meter]. 1951 Gloss. Terms Plastics (B.S.I.) 34 Baffle, a device used for the purpose of restricting the flow of hydraulic fluid in a high pressure line. It consists of a disc with a small central perforation. 1952 Granville Dict. Theatr. Terms 22 Baffle, any suitable sheet of material used to prevent a spill of light where not necessary. 1958 Gloss. Terms High Vacuum Technol. (B.S.I.) 12 Baffle, an obstruction placed near the mouth of a vapour pump to impede the entry of back-streaming vapour into the system. 1959 Times 31 July 14/4 The first earth baffle..has been built by Air India at London airport to suppress engine sounds during ground running. |
attrib. and Comb.
| 1909 Cent. Dict. Suppl., Baffle-tube. 1926 Chambers's Jrnl. Apr. 270/1 The oil rises through a series of perforated baffle discs to the top of the tank. 1931 Answers 10 Oct. 36/2 Natural reproduction will be impoverished if a moving coil loud-speaker is used within a baffle board. 1933 Archit. Rev. LXXIII. 233 The six baffle-boards covering ventilation exhaust outlets. 1939 Samuely & Hamann Civil Protection 167 Baffle wall. 1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 70/2 Baffle tube, a pipe of sufficient length to lower the temperature of hot gases before they enter a furnace. 1941 New Statesman 8 Mar. 235/1 Heavy baffle-walls have been built [in an air-raid shelter]. 1953 Times 10 Jan. (headline) Reducing Noise at Airport. Baffle Wall Nearing Completion. |
▪ III. † ˈbaffle, n.2 Obs.
[? for Sc. bauchle.]
? A worn-out horse.
| 1639 T. de Grey Compl. Horsem. 4 Iades and baffles, unusefull and unprofitable. |