Search Result for "bedevil": 
Wordnet 3.0

VERB (2)

1. treat cruelly;
- Example: "The children tormented the stuttering teacher"
[syn: torment, rag, bedevil, crucify, dun, frustrate]

2. be confusing or perplexing to; cause to be unable to think clearly;
- Example: "These questions confuse even the experts"
- Example: "This question completely threw me"
- Example: "This question befuddled even the teacher"
[syn: confuse, throw, fox, befuddle, fuddle, bedevil, confound, discombobulate]



The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Bedevil \Be*dev"il\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Bedevilled (?); p.
   pr. & vb. n. Bedeviling or Bedevilling.]
   1. To throw into utter disorder and confusion, as if by the
      agency of evil spirits; to bring under diabolical
      influence; to torment.
      [1913 Webster]

            Bedeviled and used worse than St. Bartholomew.
                                                  --Sterne.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To spoil; to corrupt. --Wright.
      [1913 Webster]


WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

bedevil
    v 1: treat cruelly; "The children tormented the stuttering
         teacher" [syn: torment, rag, bedevil, crucify,
         dun, frustrate]
    2: be confusing or perplexing to; cause to be unable to think
       clearly; "These questions confuse even the experts"; "This
       question completely threw me"; "This question befuddled even
       the teacher" [syn: confuse, throw, fox, befuddle,
       fuddle, bedevil, confound, discombobulate]