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maze

[meyz]
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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.
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verb (used with object), mazed, maz·ing.
  1. Chiefly Dialect. to daze, perplex, or stupefy.
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Origin of maze

1250–1300; Middle English mase, noun use of aphetic variant of amasen to amaze
Related formsmazed·ly [meyzd-lee, mey-zid-] /ˈmeɪzd li, ˈmeɪ zɪd-/, adverbmazed·ness, nounmaze·like, adjectivein·ter·maze, verb (used with object), in·ter·mazed, in·ter·maz·ing.
Can be confusedmaize maze
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for mazing

Historical Examples

  • "Why, you do look 'mazing grimy," he said with another grin.

    Humphrey Bold

    Herbert Strang

British Dictionary definitions for mazing

maze

noun
  1. a complex network of paths or passages, esp one with high hedges in a garden, designed to puzzle those walking through itCompare labyrinth (def. 1)
  2. a similar system represented diagrammatically as a pattern of lines
  3. any confusing network of streets, pathways, etca maze of paths
  4. a state of confusion
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verb
  1. an archaic or dialect word for amaze
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Derived Formsmazelike, adjectivemazement, noun

Word Origin

C13: see amaze
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for mazing

maze

n.

c.1300, "delusion, bewilderment" (also as a verb, "stupefy, daze"), possibly from Old English *mæs, which is suggested by the compound amasod "amazed" and verb amasian "to confound, confuse" (see amaze). Perhaps related to Norwegian dialectal mas "exhausting labor," Swedish masa "to be slow or sluggish." Meaning "labyrinth" first recorded late 14c.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper