Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Boggle |
BoggleVerb1. Startle with amazement or fear. 2. Hesitate when confronted with a problem, or when in doubt or fear. 3. Overcome with amazement; "This boggles the mind!". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "boggle" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1509. (references) |
Note: Boggle \Bog"gle\, intransitive verb [imperfect & past participle. Boggled; Boggling.]. (references) |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Play begins by randomizing a 4×4 tray of dice-like "letter cubes", normally by shaking. Each of the 16 cubes has a different letter printed on each of its sides. The cubes settle into a 4×4 tray such that only the top letter of each cube is visible. After the cubes have settled into the grid, a 3-minute timer is started and all players simultaneously begin the main phase of play.
Each player searches for words that can be constructed from the letters of sequentially adjacent cubes. Adjacent is considered to include the horizontally, vertically, and diagonally neighboring cubes. Words must be at least 3 letters long, may include singular and plural separately, but may not utilize the same letter cube more than once per word. The players record all words found by writing on their private sheet of paper. After 3 minutes have elapsed, all players must stop writing and the game enters the scoring phase.
Each player goes through his or her list of discovered words. If two or more players wrote the same word, it is discarded from all players' lists. Any player may challenge the validity of a word, in which case a previously nominated dictionary is used to verify or refute the word. For all words remaining after duplicates have been eliminated, points are awarded based on the length of the word. Longer words receive significantly more points up to a maximum of 11 points for 8 letters or more. The winner is the player whose point total is highest. Any ties are typically broken by count of long words.
The game was taken to a new level with the introduction of "Big Boggle," later marketed as "Boggle Master," which features a 5×5 tray, and is customarily played by searching for words of 4 letters or more. The Boggle Master set has an adapter that can convert the larger grid into a regular Boggle grid.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Boggle."
Synonyms: BoggleSynonyms: bowl over (v), flabbergast (v). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Amusement | Scrabble, scribbage, boggle, crossword puzzle, hangman. |
Difficulty | Get into a scrape; Noun: bring a hornet's nest about one's ears; be put to one's shifts; flounder, boggle, struggle; not know which way to turn; (uncertain); perdre son Latin; stick at, stick in the mud, stick fast; come to a stand, come to a standstill, come to a deadlock; hold the wolf by the ears, hold the tiger by the tail. |
Irresolution | Verb: be irresolute; Adjective: hang in suspense, keep in suspense; leave "ad referendum"; think twice about, pause; dawdle; (inactivity); remain neuter; dillydally, hesitate, boggle, hover, dacker, hum and haw, demur, not know one's own mind; debate, balance; dally with, coquet with; will and will not, chaser-balancer; go halfway, compromise, make a compromise; be thrown off one's balance, stagger like a drunken man; be afraid; let "I dare not" wait upon "I would"; falter, waver |
Unskillfulness | Verb: be unskillful; Adjective: not see an inch beyond one's nose; blunder, bungle, boggle, fumble, botch, bitch, flounder, stumble, trip; hobble; put one's foot in it; make a mess of, make hash of, make sad work of; overshoot the mark. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Boggle |
| English words defined with "boggle": Boggled, Boggling. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "boggle": bug. (references) |
| Domain | Title | ||
Books | |||
Music |
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High Tech |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| "Boggle" is generally used as a lexical verb (base form) -- approximately 64.00% of the time. "Boggle" is used about 25 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Lexical Verb (base form) | 64% | 16 | 87,710 |
| Noun (singular) | 28% | 7 | 133,076 |
| Lexical Verb (infinitive) | 8% | 2 | 245,945 |
| Total | 100.00% | 25 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expression using "boggle": boggle at. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "boggle": boggle-bos, boggle-eyed. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "boggle"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | ngurroj (demur, dither, falter, halt, hang, hesitate, linger, pendulate, scruple, vacillate, wabble, waver, wobble), druhem (be shy, dither, doubt, dread), alarmohem (be alarmed, flap). (various references) | |
Arabic | تردد (ambivalence, backwards, balance, be in two minds, crane, demur, difficulty, dither, fainting, falter, flicker, float, fluctuate, fluctuation, hang, haunt, hesitance, hesitancy, hesitate, hesitation, hover, hum and haw, indecision, irresolution, pause, perplexity, puzzle over, reticence, reverberate, scruple, shilly shally, sound, stick, stop, stumble, tergiversation, timidity, vacillate, vacillation, vibrate, vibration, waver, wobble, worry), عمل غير متقن (botch, bungle, sloppy work), عمل بغير براعة (muff, tinker), جفل (break cover, flinch, shy, startle, wince), إجفال (flinch, shy, startle, wince). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | стряскам се (sit up), слисвам (amaze, bemuse, bowl over, flabbergast, startle, stun, transfix), шикалкавя (fence, hedge, quibble, shift, shuffle, stall), колебая се (balance, chop, crane, demur, dilly dally, dither, falter, fluctuate, hang back, hesitate, hover, hum and haw, jib, pause, pendulate, scruple, seesaw, shilly shally, teeter, vacillate, vibrate, waver, whiffle, wobble, yo-yo), буткам се, извъртам (dodge, double talk, equivocate, pull round, screw, shift, shuffle, sophisticate, tergiversate, twist, wangle, whiffle). (various references) | |
Czech | vylekat se. (various references) | |
Farsi | کارسرهم بندی کردن , رم کردن (Shy, Start), دراثرامری ناگهانی وحشت زده شدن . (various references) | |
Finnish | kavahtaa jotakin (beware, boggle at), häikäillä (boggle at, have consideration, have scruples, hesitate). (various references) | |
French | travailler sans compétence, reculer devant, reculade devant, hésiter, hésitation, être ahuri. (various references) | |
German | zurückschrecken (blench, cringe, deter, discourage, recoil, scare, shrink back, shy away, spring back, start back, to blench), völlig sprachlos sein, glotzen (gape, gawk, gawp, goggle, stare). (various references) | |
Greek | διστάζω (demur, dilly dally, doggle, falter, hang back, have second thoughts, hesitate, hesitate about, pause, scruple to, shilly-sally, shrink from, waver), δειλιώ (quail, recoil, wince). (various references) | |
Hebrew | ל"רתע (back away, blench, cringe, draw back, flinch, recoil, refrain, retract, retreat, withdraw), ל"סס (falter, hesitate, hum and haw, vacillate, waver). (various references) | |
Hungarian | megzavarodás (bewilderment, disorientation), kobold (boggard, bogle, bogy, flibbertigibbet, goblin, hobgoblin, pixie, pixy, puck, sprite), gonosz szellem (afreet, afrit, bogle, cacodaemon, cacodemon, demon, evil spirit, goblin, gremlin), elrontás (corruption, spoiling). (various references) | |
Indonesian | enggan (averse, chary, reluctant). (various references) | |
Italian | trasecolare, trasalire (jump, wince), tentennare (dilly dally, hesitate, pussyfoot, stagger, swing, totter, waver), sobbalzare (jerk, jolt, start), sbalordire (amaze, astonish, astound, be amazed, flabbergast, flummox, stagger, stun), riempire di stupore, indugiare (delay, linger, Tarry), esitare (demur, falter, halt, hesitance, hesitate, scruple, shilly shally, wabble, waver, wobble). (various references) | |
Manx | leaystey (balancing, bank, brandish, dangle, fluctuate, fluctuating, heel, hesitate, hesitating, hesitation, loll, lolling, oscillate, oscillation, reel, reeling, rock, rocking, roll, see-saw, sway, swaying, swerve, swing, swing back, swinging, vacillate, vacillating, vacillation, waddle; wavering, waddling; fluctuation, wave, wave of hand, waver, waver of fixture). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | ogglebay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | vacilar (chop, crane, diddle, falter, flinch, fluctuate, hand back, hesitate, niddle-noddle, nutate, oscillate, pendulate, quail, quiver, repose, shilly-shally, shuffle, stagger, sway, teeter, toddle, totter, tremble, vacillate, waver), vacilação (falter, flicker, shilly-shally, vacillation, wavering), recuar (backpedal, blench, crawfish, flinch, flunk, indent, kick, off, quail, recede, recoil, retire, retreat), recear (apprehend, be afraid of, distrust, doubt, dread, fear), hesitar (balance, doubt, falter, flinch, flounder, fluctuate, halt, hesitate, linger, nutate, oscillate, pendulate, repose, scruple, shilly-shally, teeter, waver), hesitação (backwardness, doubt, flinch, hesitation, perplexity, scruple, shilly-shally, teeter, wabble, waver, wavering, wobble), fazer mal feito, espantar-se (amazing), escrúpulo (compunction, conscience, demur, nicety, qualmishness, scruple), errar (err, lapse, make a mistake, miss, roam, straggle, trip, vagabondize, wander), assustar-se (alarm oneself, bolt). (various references) | |
Romanian | ezita (back, crane, demur, falter, fluctuate, halt, hang, hesitate, hobble, hold back, pause, scruple, shilly shally, stagger, stand off, stand on, sway, vacillate, veer, waver, wobble), şovãi (back, falter, fluctuate, hang back, hesitate, linger, pause, shilly shally, shuffle, spare, stagger, vacillate, waver). (various references) | |
Russian | бояться (be afraid, be afraid of, be scared, fear), пугаться, портить (contaminate, corrupt, do damage, mung, munge, queer, spoil, tamper, thrash, vitiate, waste, welk), потрясать (appal, appall, convulse, shake), делать неумело (fumble about). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | zapanjiti (astound, dumbfound, flabbergast, stupefy, transfix), trgnuti se (wince). (various references) | |
Spanish | vacilación (dillydallying, flickering, hesitance, hesitancy, hesitation, oscillation, vacillation, wavering), sobresaltarse (jump, start up), retroceder por (blench, retrogress), dudar (disbelieve, doubt, suspect, waver). (various references) | |
Swedish | vackla (dilly dally, falter, fluctuate, haver, hitch, hover, oscillate, pendulate, shilly shally, stagger, sway, teeter, totter, vacillate, waver, wobble), haja till (give a start). (various references) | |
Thai | ทำให้งุนงง (baffle), ทำผิ"พลา"เล็กๆ น้อยๆ. (various references) | |
Turkish | becerememek (botch, bungle, bust, do badly, fail, goof, goof up, make sorry show, muddle, muff), yanaşmamak, yüzüne gözüne bulaştırmak (botch, bungle, crab, fluff, foozle, goof up, hash, hash up, make a hash of, make a mess of, make cock-up of smth., mess things up, mess up, muddle, scamp), ürkmek (balk at, be appalled, blench, dread, get a fright, have a fright, jump, lose one's nerve, quail, scare, shy, start, startle, take fright, wince), çekinmek (beware, chicken out, dread, fear, flee from, flinch, funk, get cold feet, hang back, have cold feet, hesitate, hold back, hold off, keep clear of, shrink, shun, shy, wince, withdraw). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | сіпатися (jerk), страх (alarm, anxiety, apprehension, dread, fear, fray, fright, horror), ризикувати (accept risks, adventure, dare, endanger, gamble, hazard, jeopard, jeopardize, jeopardy, risk, run the risk, run the venture, take the risk, venture, wager), вагатися (balance, deliberate, demur, dilly dally, falter, fluctuate, halt, hesitate, hover, oscillate, pause, stagger, vacillate, vibrate, waver, whiffle), вагання (demur, embarrassment, hesitance, hesitancy, hesitation, oscillation, poise, waver, wavering), лукавити, лякатися (funk, get frightened), переляк (affright, consternation, fright, funk, scare, startle, willies, wind up), плутанина (confusion, derangement, embroilment, hubbub, hurly burly, intricacy, involute, jumble, maze, mingle-mangle, mishmash, mix up, muddle, muss, patchwork, pell mell, pellmell, puddle, skein, snarl, snarl up, tangle, wooliness, woolliness). (various references) | |
Welsh | rhusio (scare, start, take fright), petruso (doubt, hesitate), ffwndro (become confused, founder). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Middle English | 1100-1500 | bugge. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "boggle": boggled, boggler, bogglers, boggles. (additional references) | |
| |
"Boggle" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Abegglen, Baggle, Baggli, begle, bigyle, bioglan, bogel, boggen, boggie, boggly, bogleg, Boogaloo, doggle, oggle. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "boggle" (pronounced bÄ"gul) |
| 4 | -Ä" g u l | boondoggle, goggle, toggle. |
| 3 | -g u l | algal, angle, antifungal, bagel, bangle, beagle, bedraggle, Bogle, bugle, centrifugal, commingle, conjugal, dangle, Dingle, disentangle, eagle, entangle, extralegal, finagle, frugal, fungal, gaggle, giggle, gurgle, haggle, illegal, Spangle, Spiegel, squiggle, straggle, strangle, struggle, swingle, tangle, Ingle, intermingle, jangle, jiggle, jingle, juggle, jungle, Kugel, legal, madrigal, Mangel, mangle, milligal, mingle, mogul, mongol, Ogle, paralegal, prodigal, rectangle, regal, shingle, single, smuggle, snuggle, tingle, triangle, untangle, wangle, wiggle, wrangle, wriggle. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "b-e-g-g-l-o" | |
-1 letter: bogle, globe. | |
-2 letters: bole, gleg, glob, lobe, loge, ogle. | |
-3 letters: beg, bel, bog, egg, ego, gel, gob, leg, lob, log, obe, ole. | |
-4 letters: be, bo, el, go, lo, oe. | |
| Words containing the letters "b-e-g-g-l-o" | |
+1 letter: boggled, boggler, boggles. | |
+2 letters: bogglers. | |
+3 letters: beclogged, belonging, bowlegged, englobing. | |
+4 letters: backlogged, beclogging, beglooming, belongings, boondoggle, bootlegged, bootlegger, bulldogged, bulldogger. | |
+5 letters: beglamoring, bludgeoning, boondoggled, boondoggler, boondoggles, bootleggers, bootlegging, bulldoggers. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Usage Frequency 6. Expressions 7. Expressions: Internet 8. Translations: Modern | 9. Translations: Ancient 10. Derivations 11. Rhymes 12. Anagrams | 13. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
