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maze

 - 4 dictionary results

maze

[meyz] noun, verb, mazed, maz⋅ing.
–noun
1. a confusing network of intercommunicating paths or passages; labyrinth.
2. any complex system or arrangement that causes bewilderment, confusion, or perplexity: Her petition was lost in a maze of bureaucratic red tape.
3. a state of bewilderment or confusion.
4. a winding movement, as in dancing.
–verb (used with object)
5. Chiefly Dialect. to daze, perplex, or stupefy.

Origin:
1250–1300; ME mase, n. use of aph. var. of amasen to amaze


mazed⋅ly [meyzd-lee, mey-zid-] , adverb
mazedness, noun
mazelike, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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maze   (māz)   
n.  
    1. An intricate, usually confusing network of interconnecting pathways, as in a garden; a labyrinth.

    2. A physical situation in which it is easy to get lost: a maze of bureaucratic divisions.

  1. A graphic puzzle, the solution of which is an uninterrupted path through an intricate pattern of line segments from a starting point to a goal.

  2. Something made up of many confused or conflicting elements; a tangle: a maze of government regulations.

tr.v.   mazed, maz·ing, maz·es Chiefly Southern U.S.
  1. To bewilder or astonish.

  2. To stupefy; daze. See Regional Note at possum.


[Middle English mase, confusion, maze, from masen, to confuse, daze, from Old English āmasian, to confound; see amaze.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

maze  (n.)
1297, "delusion, bewilderment," possibly from O.E. *mæs, which is suggested by the compound amasod "amazed" (see amaze). Perhaps related to Norw. dial. mas "exhausting labor." Meaning "labyrinth" first recorded c.1385.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: maze
Pronunciation: 'mAz
Function: noun
: a path complicated by at least one blind alley and used in learning experiments and in intelligencetests
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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