What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Baffle vs Waffle - What's the difference?

baffle | waffle |

As verbs the difference between baffle and waffle

is that baffle is to publicly disgrace, especially of a recreant knight while waffle is to smash.

As nouns the difference between baffle and waffle

is that 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 while waffle is a flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern.

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.
  • waffle

    English

    Etymology 1

    The (etyl) word wafel was adopted into English in the 1700s. The Dutch word, in turn, derives from the (etyl) w?fel]]'' (modern German ''Waffel''), which was borrowed into Middle English around 1377 as ''wafer'', and which is also the source of the French ''gaufre''. ''[[wafel, W?fel'', in turn, derives from the Old High German ''waba'', ''wabo'' (modern German ''Wabe''), meaning ''honeycomb'' and ultimately related to the word ''weave . The verb sense "to smash" derives from the manner in which waffle-batter is smashed into its shape between the two halves of a waffle iron, and the sense "to press a waffle pattern into" derives from the pattern the waffle-iron-halves impart.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (countable) A flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern.
  • The brunch was waffles with strawberries and whipped cream.
  • (countable, UK) A , a savoury flat potato cake with the same kind of grid pattern.
  • Derived terms
    * waffled * waffle iron

    Verb

    (waffl)
  • To smash.
  • * 1995 , Peter Allen David, The Incredible Hulk: What savage beast :
  • The cab was waffled in between the two, Marsh never having a prayer or even a full comprehension of what happened to him. He was crushed flat, never even hearing the deafening screech of metal.
  • * 1997 , Bill Conlin, Kevin Kerrane (editor), "Batting cleanup, Bill Conlin" , page 121:
  • These were not the Cowboys who were waffled , 45-14, here at mid-season. They came prepared to play a championship football game, with an ultra-conservative game plan suited to the horrendous turf conditions, and came close to pulling it off [...]
  • * 2005 , Shawn Michaels, with Aaron Feigenbaum, Heartbreak & Triumph: The Shawn Michaels Story , Page 47:
  • Then I waffled him and knocked him down. Why I cut myself open with the razor, I'm not completely sure. I was like the idiot in a bar who gets all worked up and smashes a bottle over his head [...]
  • * 2006 , Gordon Forbes, Tales from the Eagles Sideline (updated edition), page 2:
  • Bednarik, however, says the play became legendary only because of the circumstances. " I did it [...] to the top honcho. He just happened to be there and the pass was thrown to him. I waffled him cleanly." [...] "He just cold-cocked Frank," said linebacker Bob Pellegrini, whose injury sent Bednarik into the game to play defense.

    Etymology 2

    From the (etyl) ''woof ). Also note (etyl) .

    Noun

    (-)
  • (uncountable) Speech or writing that is vague, pretentious or evasive.
  • This interesting point seems to get lost a little within a lot of self-important waffle .
    Synonyms
    * see

    Verb

    (waffl)
  • To move in a side-to-side motion and descend (lose altitude) before landing. wiffle'', ''whiffle .
  • The geese waffled as they approached the water.
  • To speak or write vaguely and evasively.
  • * 1970 , John Galloway, The Gulf of Tonkin resolution , page 115:
  • Again the answer was "waffled ," for this did not say that no air units had been alerted. Only that none had been "identified." Moreover, the reply concerned air "unit[s]" as opposed to "air craft".
  • To speak or write at length without any clear point or aim.
  • * 1976 Tony Hatch, So you want to be in the music business, Everest Books, p68
  • Unless you have a great line in gags or repartee don't waffle on aimlessly to your audience, or make in-jokes among yourselves, the band or the compere/DJ.
  • * 1984 "Apiary Antics- No.5," British bee journal , Volumes 112-113, p68
  • Before getting down to the nitty gritty of beekeeping, most contributors to BBJ like to waffle on for a bit about the weather, the state of their garden or something equally inconsequential.
  • * 2005 Bill Condon, No Worries, Univ. of Queensland Press, p78
  • She waffled on for ages. Usually I'd say something smart or make it obvious that I wasn't interested and couldn't be bothered listening.
  • * 2006 Carl Storm, A Mighty Fine Way to Live and Die, Backstrap Ltd, p8
  • The whole thing ended suddenly when the hotel manager arrived. He waffled on for a bit; this settled everyone down.
  • To vacillate.
  • He waffles between loving the movie and hating it, depending on who's asking.
  • To rotate (one's hand) back and forth in a gesture of vacillation or ambivalence.
  • * 2007 , Michael Koryta, Sorrow’s Anthem , Macmillan, ISBN 978-0-312-93660-0, page 146:
  • “”
    Synonyms
    * (vacillate) blow hot and cold * (speak or write vaguely and evasively) beat around the bush