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Webster 1913 Edition


Beguile

Be-guile′

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Beguiled
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Beguiling
.]
1.
To delude by guile, artifice, or craft; to deceive or impose on, as by a false statement; to lure.
The serpent
beguiled
me, and I did eat.
Gen. iii. 13.
2.
To elude, or evade by craft; to foil.
[Obs.]
When misery could
beguile
the tyrant’s rage.
Shakespeare
3.
To cause the time of to pass without notice; to relieve the tedium or weariness of; to while away; to divert.
Ballads . . . to
beguile
his incessant wayfaring.
W. Irving.
Syn. – To delude; deceive; cheat; insnare; mislead; amuse; divert; entertain.

Webster 1828 Edition


Beguile

BEGUI'LE

,
Verb.
T.
begi'le. [be and guile.] To delude; to deceive; to impose on by artifice or craft.
The serpent beguiled me and I did eat Gen.3.
1.
To elude by craft.
When misery could beguile the tyrant's rage.
2.
To elude any thing disagreeable by amusement, or other means; to pass pleasingly; to amuse; as, to beguile the tedious day with sleep.

Definition 2024


beguile

beguile

English

Alternative forms

  • begyle [from the Middle English period through the 16th century]

Verb

beguile (third-person singular simple present beguiles, present participle beguiling, simple past and past participle beguiled)

  1. (transitive) To deceive or delude (using guile).
    • a. 1608, William Shakespeare, King Lear, II, II, 102.
      I know, sir, I am no flatterer: he that beguiled you, in a plain accent, was a plain knave.
  2. (transitive) To charm, delight or captivate.
    • 1864 November 21, Abraham Lincoln (signed) or John Hay, letter to Mrs. Bixby in Boston
      I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming.

Related terms

Translations

References

  • beguile in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
  • beguile in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913