Con-found', v. t.
v. t. [imp. & p. p. CONFOUNDED; p. pr. & vb. n. CONFOUNDING.] [Fr. & Pr. confondre, Sp. & Pg. confundir, It. confondere, from Lat. confundere, to pour together, from con and fundere, to pour.]
Sense 1. To mingle and blend, so that different elements can not be distinguished, especially so that one thing is mistaken for another; to confuse utterly; to mistake by error.
They who strip not ideas from the marks men use for them, but confound them with words, must have endless disputes. Locke.
The tinkers then formed an hereditary caste. They were generally vagrants and pilferers, and were often confounded with the gipsies. Macaulay.
Sense 2. To throw into confusion or disorder; to perplex; to strike with amazement; to dismay; to discomfit; to overthrow; to ruin.
The gods confound (hear me, ye good gods all) The Athenians both within and out that wall. Shak.
So spake the Son of God, and Satan stood A while as mute, confounded what to say. Milton.
Synonyms—To abash; confuse; baffle; dismay; astonish; defeat; terrify; mix; blend; intermingle. See ABASH.