Balk vs Baffle - What's the difference?

Balk is a synonym of baffle.

In obsolete|lang=en terms the difference between balk and baffle

is that balk is (obsolete) to miss intentionally; to avoid; to shun; to refuse; to let go by; to shirk while baffle is (obsolete) to hoodwink or deceive (someone).

As nouns the difference between balk and baffle

is that balk is ridge, an unplowed strip of land while baffle is a device used to dampen the effects of such things as sound, light, or fluid specifically, a baffle is a surface which is placed inside an open area to inhibit direct motion from one part to another, without preventing motion altogether.

As verbs the difference between balk and baffle

is that balk is (archaic) to pass over or by or balk can be to indicate to fishermen, by shouts or signals from shore, the direction taken by the shoals of herring while baffle is (obsolete) to publicly disgrace, especially of a recreant knight.

balk

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) balke, (etyl) balca, either from or influenced by (etyl) .

Alternative forms

* baulk

Noun

(en noun)

ridge, an unplowed strip of land

* Fuller

Bad ploughmen made balks of such ground.

beam, crossbeam

A hindrance or disappointment; a check.

* South

a balk to the confidence of the bold undertaker

A sudden and obstinate stop; a failure.

(sports) deceptive motion; feint

# (baseball) an illegal motion by the pitcher, intended to deceive a runner

# (badminton) motion used to deceive an opponent during a serve

Verb

(en verb)

(archaic) To pass over or by.

To omit, miss, or overlook by chance.

(obsolete) To miss intentionally; to avoid; to shun; to refuse; to let go by; to shirk.

* Evelyn

By reason of the contagion then in London, we balked the nns.

* Bishop Hall

Sick he is, and keeps his bed, and balks his meat.

* Drayton

Nor doth he any creature balk , / But lays on all he meeteth.

To stop, check, block.

To stop short and refuse to go on.

The horse balked .

To refuse suddenly.

To disappoint; to frustrate; to foil; to baffle; to thwart.

to balk expectation

* Byron

They shall not balk my entrance.

To engage in contradiction; to be in opposition.

* Spenser

In strifeful terms with him to balk .

To leave or make balks in.

(Gower)

To leave heaped up; to heap up in piles.

* Shakespeare

Ten thousand bold Scots, two and twenty knights, / Balk'd in their own blood did Sir Walter see.

Etymology 2

Probably from (etyl) .

Verb

(en verb)

To indicate to fishermen, by shouts or signals from shore, the direction taken by the shoals of herring.

(Webster 1913)

References

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baffle

English

Verb

(baffl)

(obsolete) To publicly disgrace, especially of a recreant knight.

* 1596 , (Edmund Spenser), The Faerie Queene , VI.7:

He by the heeles him hung upon a tree, / And baffuld so, that all which passed by / The picture of his punishment might see […].

(obsolete) To hoodwink or deceive (someone).

(Barrow)

To bewilder completely; to confuse or perplex.

I am baffled by the contradictions and omissions in the instructions.

* Prescott

calculations so difficult as to have baffled , until within a recent period, the most enlightened nations

* John Locke

The mere intricacy of a question should not baffle us.

* Cowper

the art that baffles time's tyrannic claim

* South

a suitable scripture ready to repel and baffle them all

To struggle in vain.

A ship baffles with the winds.

Synonyms

* See also

Noun

(en noun)

A device used to dampen the effects of such things as sound, light, or fluid. Specifically, a baffle is a surface which is placed inside an open area to inhibit direct motion from one part to another, without preventing motion altogether.

Tanker trucks use baffles to keep the liquids inside from sloshing around.

An architectural feature designed to confuse enemies or make them vulnerable.