Baf·fle v. t. [imp. & p. p. Baffled (-f'ld); p. pr. & vb. n. Baffling ]
 1. To cause to undergo a disgraceful punishment, as a recreant knight. [Obs.]
 He by the heels him hung upon a tree,
 And baffled so, that all which passed by
 The picture of his punishment might see.   --Spenser.
 2. To check by shifts and turns; to elude; to foil.
    The art that baffles time's tyrannic claim.   --Cowper.
 3. To check by perplexing; to disconcert, frustrate, or defeat; to thwart. “A baffled purpose.”
    A suitable scripture ready to repel and baffle them all.   --South.
    Calculations so difficult as to have baffled, until within a . . . recent period, the most enlightened nations.   --Prescott.
    The mere intricacy of a question should not baffle us.   --Locke.
 Baffling wind Naut., one that frequently shifts from one point to another.
 Syn: -- To balk; thwart; foil; frustrate; defeat.