---
title: baffle — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «baffle» in the school dictionary: To baffle someone is to puzzle them so they cannot understand or work out what to do. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/baffle/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [dictionaries](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/) / [school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/) / [B](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/) / baffle

# baffle

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** someone, they, Medea, riddle, puzzle · **What happens:** baffle, be, not understand, work out, do, work · **To what, where:** puzzle, plan, measures, clever men, me

<!-- .vabout -->
«baffle» in the school dictionary: its 2 meanings for a pupil and its 3 examples, every sentence parsed by Mova itself — its syntax tree, a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies, and its pragmatics clause by clause. The word in the dictionary, with its sense in the lessons: [baffle in the school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/baffle.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To baffle someone is to puzzle them so they cannot understand or work out what to do.

<!-- fold The tree, 18 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:baffle:m1:1
# text = To baffle someone is to puzzle them so they cannot understand or work out what to do.
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	baffle	baffle	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	someone	someone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	6	nsubj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	puzzle	puzzle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	ccomp	_	_
7	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nmod	_	_
8	so	so	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
9	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
10	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	12	advmod	_	_
12	understand	understand	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	advcl	_	_
13	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
14	work	work	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	conj	_	_
15	out	out	ADP	RP	_	14	compound:prt	_	_
16	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	18	obj	_	_
17	to	to	PART	TO	_	18	mark	_	_
18	do	do	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	14	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **baffle** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer |
| 2 | **is a** | present | someone | puzzle |  |  |  | them *= they* *nmod* | tree rules |
| 3 | **not** **understand** | can | they |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 4 | **work out** | infinitive | they *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 5 | **do** | to-infinitive | they *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Eventuality |

<!-- .note -->
One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

## Meaning 2 {#m2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To baffle a plan is to stop it working, to foil it.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:baffle:m2:1
# text = To baffle a plan is to stop it working, to foil it.
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	baffle	baffle	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	advcl	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	plan	plan	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	stop	stop	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obj	_	_
9	working	work	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	7	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
11	to	to	PART	TO	_	12	mark	_	_
12	foil	foil	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	7	conj	_	_
13	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **baffle** | to-infinitive |  | a plan |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus plan=Experiencer |
| 2 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | stop *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **work** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn employment-95.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **foil** | to-infinitive |  | plan |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Medea at once took measures to baffle them.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:baffle:x1:1
# text = Medea at once took measures to baffle them.
1	Medea	medea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
2	at	at	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
3	once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	4	obl	_	_
4	took	take	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	measures	measure	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	baffle	baffle	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	advcl	_	_
8	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **take** | past | Medea | measures |  |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP PP.source NP.asset»: agent=Agent measure=Theme at once=Asset |
| 2 | **baffle** | to-infinitive | Medea *not said here* | measures *= measure* |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus they=Experiencer |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The riddle baffled all the clever men.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:baffle:x2:1
# text = The riddle baffled all the clever men.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	riddle	riddle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	baffled	baffle	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	7	det:predet	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	clever	clever	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	men	man	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **baffle** | past | the riddle | all clever men |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus man=Experiencer |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The puzzle baffled me for an hour.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:baffle:x3:1
# text = The puzzle baffled me for an hour.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	puzzle	puzzle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	baffled	baffle	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	3	obj	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	hour	hour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **baffle** | past | the puzzle | me |  |  | hour |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus i=Experiencer |

<!-- div src -->

**Text:** the school dictionary of Mova's schools (`world/data/dictionary-schools/`), written for Mova. **Trees:** Mova's own parse — the `en` model on the CPU, when the site is built — not checked by a teacher; they may be wrong. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), each meaning and example read on its own. Elamur Cosmic License.

<!-- /div -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [badminton](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/badminton/)
- next →: [baffled](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/baffled/)
- ↑ back to [B in school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/)