befool

American  

[bih-fool] / bɪˈful /

verb (used with object)

1. to fool; deceive; dupe.

   Synonyms:

   cheat, mislead, delude, bamboozle, swindle

2. Obsolete. to treat as a fool; call (someone) a fool.

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befool British  

/ bɪˈfuːl /

verb

1. (tr) to make a fool of

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Etymology

Origin of befool

First recorded in 1350–1400, befool is from the Middle English word befolen. See be-, fool ¹

Example Sentences

The action concerns the usual city fellers who atempt to befool the honest but apparently boobish guardian of the two girl orphans and their fortune.

From Time Magazine Archive

"I thought he was jesting, and said,— "'Ah, Sir Host, you would befool me and my wishes with a false image of Luther!'

From Chronicles of the Schonberg-Cotta Family by Charles, Elizabeth Rundle

Would you befool me, horrible creature, so that some mad deed shall hurl me down into the abyss?

From The Serapion Brethren, Vol. I. by Hoffmann, Ernst Theodor Wilhelm

They clear out in time to save their own skins, never fear, and sneak off to befool the British public, while we are defending our lives and property.

From The Fire Trumpet A Romance of the Cape Frontier by Mitford, Bertram

It could be done only by one whom all the world had conspired to befog and befool about his importance in the scheme of things.

From The Convert by Robins, Elizabeth