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dazes

Verb
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

To overwhelm someone with confusion, shock, or stupor; describes a state of bewildered uncertainty, where clear thinking is suspended by unexpected events or intense emotion.

Detailed Definition
To daze is to stun or bewilder, and Hardy uses the verb to show how the news overwhelms the woman. The line captures the shock of receiving a message before fully understanding it.
Example
Example in poetry:
“Of meaning it dazes to understand” uses dazes for mental bewilderment; “The sudden diagnosis dazes him” shows the verb’s present-tense force; Poets often let a vast landscape, grief, or revelation daze a speaker into silence; “The archive dazes us with names” makes collective history the source of confusion
Additional Notes
Although related to a common idea, the verb "dazes" in this construction is slightly literary and may stand out in the line quoted.; Found in the poem, A Wife in London by Thomas Hardy
Also Known As
stuns bewilders confounds
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