confound

a. [ Pref. un- not + confounded. ] Not confounded. Bp. Warburton. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

They who strip not ideas from the marks men use for them, but confound them with words, must have endless dispute. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

Let us go down, and there confound their language. Gen. xi. 7. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To mistake for another; to identify falsely. [ 1913 Webster ]

They [ the tinkers ] were generally vagrants and pilferers, and were often confounded with the gypsies. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To throw into confusion or disorder; to perplex; to strike with amazement; to dismay. [ 1913 Webster ]

The gods confound...
The Athenians both within and out that wall. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

They trusted in thee and were not confounded. Ps. xxii. 5. [ 1913 Webster ]

So spake the Son of God, and Satan stood
A while as mute, confounded what to say. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To destroy; to ruin; to waste. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

One man's lust these many lives confounds. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

How couldst thou in a mile confound an hour? Shak.

Syn. -- To abash; confuse; baffle; dismay; astonish; defeat; terrify; mix; blend; intermingle. See Abash. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Confused; perplexed; unclear in mind or intent; bewildered.
Syn. -- at sea, befuddled, bemused, bewildered, confused, mazed, mixed-up. [ 1913 Webster + WordNet 1.5 ]

A cloudy and confounded philosopher. Cudworth. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Excessive; extreme; abominable. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

He was a most confounded tory. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

The tongue of that confounded woman. Sir. W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. Extremely; odiously; detestably. [ Colloq. ] “Confoundedly sick.” Goldsmith. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state of being confounded. [ 1913 Webster ]

Their witty descant of my confoundedness. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who confounds. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. tending to contradict (a hypothesis).
Syn. -- contradictory. [ WordNet 1.5 ]