Word of the Day for Wednesday, July 18, 2012

beguile \bih-GAHYL\, verb:
1. To influence by trickery, flattery, etc.; mislead; delude.
2. To take away from by cheating or deceiving (usually followed by
of): to be beguiled of money.
3. To charm or divert: a multitude of attractions to beguile the
tourist.
4. To pass (time) pleasantly: beguiling the long afternoon with a good
book.

 Donovan was going to have to beguile Peter, but he hoped he
 wouldn't have to beguile Alex as well. It was a bad precedent to
 set, and he liked the honesty between the two of them.
 -- Deborah Cooke, Kiss of Fury

 Sentences and sententiae alike charm and beguile even jaded
 undergraduates. Who but can marvel at such craftsmanship as these
 words incarnate…
 -- George Douglas Atkins, Reading Essays

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Beguile is derived from the Middle English word bigilen, from the
root guile meaning "insidious cunning."