- boggle (v.)
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- 1590s, "to start with fright (as a startled horse does), shy, take alarm," from Middle English bugge "specter" (among other things, supposed to scare horses at night); see bug (n.); also compare bogey (n.1). The meaning "to raise scruples, hesitate" is from 1630s. As a noun from 1650s. Related: Boggled; boggling; boggler (from c. 1600 as "one who hesitates").