Adjacent Words

Confound definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

CONFOUND, v.t. [L., to pour out. Literally, to pour or throw together.]
1. To mingle and blend different things, so that their forms or natures cannot be distinguished; to mix in a mass or crowd, so that individuals cannot be distinguished.
2. To throw into disorder.
Let us go down, and there confound their language. Genesis 11.
3. To mix or blend, so as to occasion a mistake of one thing for another.
A fluid body and a wetting liquor, because they agree in many things, are wont to be confounded.
Men may confound ideas with words.
4. To perplex; to disturb the apprehension by indistinctness of ideas or words.
Men may confound each other by unintelligible terms or wrong application of words.
5. To abash; to throw the mind into disorder; to cast down; to make ashamed.
Be thou confounde and ber thy shame. Ezek 16.
Saul confounded the Jews at Damascus. Acts 9.
6. To perplex with terror; to terrify; to dismay; to astonish; to throw into consternation; to stupify with amazement.
So spake the Son of God; and Satan stood a while as mute confounded what to say.
The multitude came together and were confounded. Acts 2.
7. To destroy; to overthrow.
So deep a malice to confound the race of mankind in one root.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: be confusing or perplexing to; cause to be unable to think clearly; "These questions confuse even the experts"; "This question completely threw me"; "This question befuddled even the teacher" [syn: confuse, throw, fox, befuddle, fuddle, bedevil, confound, discombobulate]
2: mistake one thing for another; "you are confusing me with the other candidate"; "I mistook her for the secretary" [syn: confuse, confound]

Merriam Webster's

transitive verb Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French confundre, from Latin confundere to pour together, confuse, from com- + fundere to pour — more at found Date: 14th century 1. a. archaic to bring to ruin ; destroy b. baffle, frustrate <conferences…are not for accomplishment but to confound knavish tricks — J. K. Galbraith> 2. obsolete consume, waste 3. a. to put to shame ; discomfit <a performance that confounded the critics> b. refute <sought to confound his arguments> 4. damn 5. to throw (a person) into confusion or perplexity 6. a. to fail to discern differences between ; mix up b. to increase the confusion of Synonyms: see puzzle • confounder noun • confoundingly adverb

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & int. --v.tr. 1 throw into perplexity or confusion. 2 mix up; confuse (in one's mind). 3 archaic defeat, overthrow. --int. expressing annoyance (confound you!). Etymology: ME f. AF conf(o)undre, OF confondre f. L confundere mix up (as com-, fundere fus- pour)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Confound Con*found" (k[o^]n*found"), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Confounded; p. pr. & vb. n. Confounding.] [F. confondre, fr. L. confundere, -fusum, to pour together; con- + fundere to pour. See Fuse to melt, and cf. Confuse.] 1. To mingle and blend, so that different elements can not be distinguished; to confuse. They who strip not ideas from the marks men use for them, but confound them with words, must have endless dispute. --Locke. Let us go down, and there confound their language. --Gen. xi. 7. 2. To mistake for another; to identify falsely. They [the tinkers] were generally vagrants and pilferers, and were often confounded with the gypsies. --Macaulay. 3. To throw into confusion or disorder; to perplex; to strike with amazement; to dismay. The gods confound... The Athenians both within and out that wall. --Shak. They trusted in thee and were not confounded. --Ps. xxii. 5. So spake the Son of God, and Satan stood A while as mute, confounded what to say. --Milton. 4. To destroy; to ruin; to waste. [Obs.] One man's lust these many lives confounds. --Shak. How couldst thou in a mile confound an hour? --Shak. Syn: To abash; confuse; baffle; dismay; astonish; defeat; terrify; mix; blend; intermingle. See Abash.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(confounds, confounding, confounded) If someone or something confounds you, they make you feel surprised or confused, often by showing you that your opinions or expectations of them were wrong. The choice of Governor may confound us all. VERB: V n

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

kon-found': The physical origin of spiritual terms is well illustrated by the principal Hebrew words for "confounded" (rendered also "ashamed," etc.); bosh, is "to become pale" (2Ki 19:26; Job 6:20; Ps 83:17; 129:5 the King James Version; Isa 19:9, etc.); chapher, "to become red" (Ps 35:4; Isa 1:29; 24:23, "the moon shall be confounded," Mic 3:7); yabhash, "to be dried up" (Jer 46:24 the King James Version; Jer 48:1,20 the King James Version; Jer 50:2 the King James Version; Zec 10:5); kalam, "to blush" (Ps 69:6 the King James Version; Isa 41:11, etc.). In Ge 11:7,9, of the confusion of tongues, the word is balal, "to mix," "mingle." In Jer 1:17 the King James Version it is chathath, "to bring or put down."

In New Testament, kataischuno, "to put to shame" (1Co 1:27 the King James Version; 1Pe 2:6 the King James Version); and sugchuno, "to pour together," "bewilder' " (Ac 2:6; 9:22). the Revised Version (British and American) frequently gives "ashamed" and "put to shame" instead of "confounded." W. L. Walker

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Mingle confusedly, confuse, crowd together in disorder. 2. Confuse with each other, mistake one for another, mistake between. 3. Perplex, bewilder, embarrass, mystify, pose, nonplus, flurry. 4. Surprise, amaze, astonish, astound, stupefy, bewilder, stun, startle, dumfounder, paralyze, take by surprise, strike with wonder, strike dumb, petrify with wonder. 5. Destroy, overthrow, ruin, overwhelm, cast down, demolish, annihilate, bring to nought. 6. Abash, confuse, disconcert, discompose, shame, mortify.

Moby Thesaurus

abash, accurse, addle, adulterate, alloy, amaze, anathematize, answer, answer conclusively, appall, argue down, astonish, astound, awe, awestrike, baffle, balk, ball up, bamboozle, beat, bedaze, bedazzle, befog, bewilder, blaspheme, blast, blur, blur distinctions, boggle, bollix up, bowl down, bowl over, brave, break, bring to ruin, buffalo, canker, cap, cast down, chagrin, challenge, cheapen, checkmate, circumvent, coarsen, complicate, condemn, confound, confront, confuse, confute, consume, contaminate, contradict, contravene, controvert, corrupt, counter, counteract, countermand, counterwork, cross, crush, curse, damn, darn, dash, daze, dazzle, deal destruction, debase, debauch, decimate, defeat, defile, deflower, defy, degenerate, degrade, demolish, denature, deny, deprave, depredate, desecrate, desolate, despoil, destroy, devalue, devastate, devour, discomfit, discompose, disconcert, disconfirm, discountenance, dish, dismay, dismiss, dispose of, disrupt, dissolve, distort, dumbfound, dumbfounder, elude, embarrass, embrangle, engorge, entangle, evert, excommunicate, execrate, faze, finish, flabbergast, floor, flummox, foil, foul up, frustrate, fuddle, fulminate against, fumble, garble, get, gobble, gobble up, gut, gut with fire, havoc, hex, implicate, imprecate, incinerate, infect, involve, jumble, jumble together, keep in suspense, knock the chocks, knot, lay in ruins, lay waste, lick, louse up, maze, mess up, misdeem, misidentify, misuse, mix, mix up, mortify, muck up, muddle, mystify, nonplus, overlook distinctions, overthrow, overturn, overwhelm, panic, paralyze, parry, perplex, pervert, petrify, pi, play hob with, poison, pollute, pose, prostitute, put out, put to flight, put to rout, put to silence, puzzle, ramify, rattle, ravage, ravel, ravish, rebut, reduce to silence, refute, riffle, rout, ruin, ruinate, sabotage, scatter, scotch, scramble, screw up, settle, shipwreck, shuffle, shut up, silence, smash all opposition, snafu, snarl, snarl up, spike, spoil, squash, squelch, stagger, stampede, startle, stick, stonewall, strike dead, strike dumb, strike with wonder, stumble, stump, stun, stupefy, subvert, surprise, swallow up, taint, take aback, tangle, throw, throw a whammy, throw into confusion, throw into disorder, thunder against, thwart, tumble, twist, ulcerate, undermine, unleash destruction, unleash the hurricane, upheave, upset, vandalize, vaporize, violate, vitiate, vulgarize, warp, waste, wrack, wreak havoc, wreck