Klryz
Pronunciation guide: IPA symbols, stress and word endings

Vowels

iːseeɪsite / ɛbedæcat
ɑːfatherɒhot (UK)ɔːlawʊput
uːtooʌcupɜːbirdəabout
eɪdayaɪmyɔɪboyaʊnow
əʊ / oʊgo (UK / US)ɪəneareəhairʊətour

Consonants that look unusual

θthinðthisʃsheʒmeasure
tʃchurchdʒjudgeŋsingjyes

p b t d k g f v s z h m n l r w sound as in ordinary English spelling.

Marks

  • ˈ main stress, before the stressed syllable: /ˈwɔːtə/ water · ˌ lighter (secondary) stress: /ˌʌndəˈstænd/ understand
  • ː a long vowel · (r) an r said only in accents that pronounce it (most American, Scottish, Irish)

Common word endings

  • -s / -es (plurals; he/she form of verbs): /s/ after voiceless sounds (cats), /z/ after voiced (dogs), /ɪz/ after s, z, sh, ch, j sounds (buses, watches). Spelling: -es after s, x, z, ch, sh; consonant + y → -ies (city → cities).
  • -ed (past): /t/ after voiceless sounds (walked), /d/ after voiced (played), /ɪd/ after t or d (wanted). Spelling: love → loved, stop → stopped, carry → carried.
  • -ing: make → making, run → running, see → seeing.
  • Irregular: go, went, gone · be, was, been · see, saw, seen · man → men · child → children · mouse → mice.
  • Older (King James) forms: -eth = -s (he loveth = he loves) · -est with “thou” (thou lovest) · spake = spoke.

English Dictionary · 107,383 entries · Sources & licences

baffle

UK /ˈbæfl̩/ · US /ˈbæf(ə)l/ verb, noun

Forms baffles baffling baffled bafflest baffledst baffleth baffol bafful

  1. verb To confuse or perplex (someone) completely; to bewilder, to confound, to puzzle. “I am baffled by the contradictions and omissions in the instructions.”
  2. verb (archaic) To defeat, frustrate, or thwart (someone or their efforts, plans, etc.); to confound, to foil.
  3. verb (specifically, nautical) Of weather or wind: to hinder or prevent (a ship or its crew) from advancing.
  4. verb (technology) To dampen, muffle, restrain, or otherwise control (a fluid, or waves travelling through a fluid such as light or sound).
  5. verb To deceive or hoodwink (someone); to gull.
  6. verb Followed by away or out: to deprive of (something) through cheating or manipulation; also (followed by out of), to deprive of something by cheating or manipulating (someone).
  7. verb To expend effort or struggle in vain. “The ship, baffling with the winds, moved not an inch.”
  8. verb (obsolete) To argue or complain in a petty or trivial manner; to quibble.
  9. noun A device used to dampen, muffle, restrain, or otherwise control the movement of a fluid, or waves travelling through a fluid such as light or sound; specifically, a surface positioned inside an open area to inhibit direct motion from one place to another without preventing motion altogether. “Tanker trucks use baffles to keep the liquids inside from sloshing around.”
  10. noun (US, dialectal, coal mining) A lever for operating the throttle valve of a winding engine.
  11. noun A device to prevent the spreading of sound or light. “sound baffle”
  12. noun A barrier designed to obstruct and confuse enemies, rendering them vulnerable.
  13. noun (obsolete, countable) An argument or objection based on an ambiguity of wording or similar trivial circumstance; a minor complaint; a quibble.
  14. verb To publicly disgrace (someone); specifically, a recreant knight.
  15. verb (generally) To treat (someone) with contempt; to disgrace; also, to speak of (someone or something) in contemptuous terms; to speak ill of, to vilify.
  16. noun (obsolete, uncountable) Intentional insult; affront; also, disgrace; (countable) an instance of this.

Synonyms

addle vex lose embroil stick stump baffound bamboozle bedevil befuddle throw bemud bemuse bewilder bumfuzzle complicate confound confuddle confuse confuzzle baffle board perplex get puzzle mystify beat pose flummox stupefy nonplus

Antonyms

clarify enlighten unbaffle

Etymology

The origin of the verb is uncertain; it is possibly:
* from French bafouer, baffoüer (“to abuse, revile; to confuse, baffle; to deceive; to flout; to scorn”), imitative of someone making a disdainful sound by expelling air quickly through pouted lips (compare Occitan baf (interjection expressing disdain)); or
* from French befer, beffer, beffler (“(obsolete) to deceive; to mock, ridicule”) (compare Old French befe, beffe, buffe (“deception; mockery”); beferie (“deceit; quibbling”)), possibly from bafouer: see above.
The noun is derived from the verb.
* Italian beffare (“(verb) to deride, mock”), beffa (“(noun) banter; mockery”)
* Occitan bafar (“(verb) to deride, mock”), bafa (“(noun) banter; mockery”)
* Old Spanish bafa (modern Spanish befa (“(noun) banter; mockery”))
* Spanish befar (“(verb) to deride, mock”)

The origin of the verb is uncertain; it is possibly from Scots bauchle (“to annoy; to cause harm or trouble to; to disgrace; to jilt; to treat with contempt”), from bauchle (“useless or worn-out person or thing; clumsy work, bungle; clumsy or untidy person; contemptible person; laughing stock”); further etymology uncertain, possibly related to bauch (“feeble, sorry; backward, foolish”, adjective), possibly related to Old Norse bagr (“awkward, clumsy”), bāgr (“hard up, poor; uneasy”)
The noun is derived from the verb.

Webster’s 1913

  1. verb To cause to undergo a disgraceful punishment, as a recreant knight. [Obs.]
  2. verb To check by shifts and turns; to elude; to foil.
  3. verb To practice deceit. [Obs.] Barrow.
  4. verb To struggle against in vain; as, a ship baffles with the winds.

Etymology [Cf. Lowland Scotch bauchle to treat contemptuously, bauch tasteless, abashed, jaded, Icel. bagr uneasy, poor, or bagr, n., struggle, bægja to push, treat harshly, OF. beffler, beffer, to mock, deceive, dial. G. bäppe mouth, beffen to bark, chide.]

Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “baffle”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details

Sanskrit

Sanskrit dictionary entries whose meaning includes “baffle” (best matches first).