confound

Everyday

1. To confound someone is to confuse them so badly that they cannot think clearly. tree →
2. To confound a plan is to defeat it or spoil it. tree →
3. (exclamation) «Confound it!» is an old way of saying «Blast it!» when something goes wrong. tree →

In the lessons

in the lessons, to mix up the innocent with the guilty, or to baffle and beat an enemy by a trick or fog

Examples

• The puzzle began to confound me. tree →
• The magician's fog was meant to confound the soldiers. tree →
• Do not confound the innocent with the guilty. tree →
• «Confound it!» cried the farmer when his cart stuck in the mud. tree →

Note

nothing changes a count, but if you confound two numbers in a sum, the answer will be wrong.

In Jewish tradition

At Babel God confounded the language of the people so they could no longer understand one another.

Interpretation. The story is read as explaining why humans speak many languages, and as a warning against pride. The name Babel is linked to the Hebrew word for mixing.

Examples

• Come, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.' (Torah GEN.11.7, JPS 1917) tree →
• Therefore was the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth; and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth. (Torah GEN.11.9, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

nothing changes a count, but if you confound two numbers in a sum, the answer will be wrong.