bamboozle

views updated May 23 2018

bam·boo·zle / bamˈboōzəl/ • v. [tr.] inf. fool or cheat (someone): Tom Sawyer bamboozled the neighborhood boys into doing it for him. ∎  (often be bamboozled) confound or perplex: bamboozled by the number of savings plans being offered.

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English

bamboozle

views updated May 29 2018

bamboozle trick, cheat, mystify. XVIII. prob. of cant orig.; cf. Sc. bumbaze, bom- (XVII).

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology T. F. HOAD

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