bewilder

t. [Eng. prefix be, and Prov. Eng. wildern = a wilderne ( Skeat. ) In Sw. förvilda; Dan. for vilde = to bewilder; Dut. verwilderen = to grow wild, to bewilder; Ger. verwildern = to render wild.] [WILDERNESS.] To make one feel as if he were lost in a wilder Used ne . (1) Lit. Of a person who has lost his way and does not know in what direction to proceed. "Drear is the state of the benighted wretch, Who then, bewilder'd , wanders through the dark." Thomson: Seasons Autumn. (2) Fig .: Of one who is perplexed, confounded, or stupefied. (a) With some stupendous intellectual discovery which the mind is too feeble completely to grasp. the magnitudes with which we have here to do bewilder us equally in the opposite direction."Tyndall: Frag. of Science , 3rd ed., vii. 151. (b) With some misfortune with regard to which one does not know the best course of action to adopt. "The evil tidings which terrified and bewildered James."-Macaulay: Hist . Eng . , ch. xiv. It is sometimes used reflexively. "It is good sometimes to lose and bewilder ourselves in such studies, "- Watts. bě-wil'-dered, pa. par. & a. [BEWILDER.] Confused, ill-a orted. ..a bewildered heap of stones and rubbish,..." -Carlyle: Heroes and Hero-worship, § iii. bě-wil-dered-ne , s. [Eng. bewildered ; -ne .] The state of being bewildered. ( Ben tham .) bě-wil-der-ing, pr . par . & a. [BEWILDER.] A. & B. As pr. par. & part. adj .: In senses corresponding to those of the verb. "And dim remembrances, that still draw birth From the bewildering music of the earth." Hemans: Elysium . C. As substantive: The act of leading into perplexity; the state of being in perplexity. "Can this be the bird, to man so good, That, after their bewildering , Did cover with leaves the little children, So painfully in the wood?" Words worth: Redbreast and the Butterfly. bě-wil-der-ing-ly, adv . [Eng. bewildering ; -ly.] In a bewildering manner; so as to confuse, confound, or perplex. ( Webster .)