All 8 Uses of
confound
in
Oliver Twist
- Mr. Bumble sat himself down; quite confounded by the oddity of Mr. Grimwig's manner.†
Chpt 17 *
- That it was possible even for justice itself to confound the innocent with the guilty when they were in accidental companionship, he knew already; and that deeply-laid plans for the destruction of inconveniently knowing or over-communicative persons, had been really devised and carried out by the Jew on more occasions than one, he thought by no means unlikely, when he recollected the general nature of the altercations between that gentleman and Mr. Sikes: which seemed to bear reference…†
Chpt 18
- …of hawkers, the shouts, oaths, and quarrelling on all sides; the ringing of bells and roar of voices, that issued from every public-house; the crowding, pushing, driving, beating, whooping and yelling; the hideous and discordant din that resounded from every corner of the market; and the unwashed, unshaven, squalid, and dirty figures constantly running to and fro, and bursting in and out of the throng; rendered it a stunning and bewildering scene, which quite confounded the senses.†
Chpt 21
- Look sharp with the light, or I shall knock my brains out against something in this confounded hole.'†
Chpt 26
- Then confound your—slow coaches down here; that's all,' said the doctor, walking away.†
Chpt 30
- Confound the fellows, they will have the why and the wherefore, and will take nothing for granted.†
Chpt 31
- 'Where's—confound the fellow, what's his rascally name—Sikes; that's it.†
Chpt 32
- 'Then turn towards home again,' said Mr. Losberne to the driver; 'and don't stop to bait the horses, till you get out of this confounded London!'†
Chpt 32
Definition:
-
(confound) to confuse, prove wrong, frustrate, or express frustrationin various senses, including:
confuse or surprise -- sometimes specifically to confuse one thing with another
- "confounded by the puzzle" -- confused or perplexed
- "Test results confounded the experts." -- surprised and confused
- "Do not confound confidence with correctness." -- mistake one thing for another
prove wrong, defeat, or frustrate
- "The test results confounded my theory." -- proved wrong
- "Their defense confounded our offense." -- defeated or frustrated
make worse
- "She confounded the problem by painting without sanding." -- made worse
- "The task is complicated by other confounding factors." -- making worse
an exclamation expressing anger or frustration
- "Confound it! Will I ever get this thing to work?"
- "I don't understand the confounded directions!"