puzzle

[PuzĀ·zle]

To puzzle over something is to try to understand or solve it. Picture someone struggling with a jigsaw puzzle, trying to figure out how all those tiny pieces fit together to form an image. That person is puzzling over a puzzle!

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Something which perplexes or embarrasses; especially, a toy or a problem contrived for testing ingenuity; also, something exhibiting marvelous skill in making.

Noun
a toy that tests your ingenuity

Noun
a particularly baffling problem that is said to have a correct solution; "he loved to solve chessmate puzzles"; "that''s a real puzzler"

Verb
be a mystery or bewildering to; "This beats me!"; "Got me--I don''t know the answer!"; "a vexing problem"; "This question really stuck me"

Verb
be uncertain about; think about without fully understanding or being able to decide; "We puzzled over her sudden departure"


v.
Something which perplexes or embarrasses; especially, a toy or a problem contrived for testing ingenuity; also, something exhibiting marvelous skill in making.

v.
The state of being puzzled; perplexity; as, to be in a puzzle.

v. t.
To perplex; to confuse; to embarrass; to put to a stand; to nonplus.

v. t.
To make intricate; to entangle.

v. t.
To solve by ingenuity, as a puzzle; -- followed by out; as, to puzzle out a mystery.

v. i.
To be bewildered, or perplexed.

v. i.
To work, as at a puzzle; as, to puzzle over a problem.


Puzzle

Puz"zle , n. [For opposal, in the sense of problem. See Oppose, Pose, v.] 1. Something which perplexes or embarrasses; especially, a toy or a problem contrived for testing ingenuity; also, something exhibiting marvelous skill in making. 2. The state of being puzzled; perplexity; as, to be in a puzzle.

Puzzle

Puz"zle, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Puzzled ; p. pr. & vb. n. Puzzling .] 1. To perplex; to confuse; to embarrass; to put to a stand; to nonplus.
A very shrewd disputant in those points is dexterous in puzzling others.
He is perpetually puzzled and perplexed amidst his own blunders.
2. To make intricate; to entangle.
They disentangle from the puzzled skein.
The ways of Heaven are dark and intricate, Puzzled in mazes, and perplexed with error.
3. To solve by ingenuity, as a puzzle; -- followed by out; as, to puzzle out a mystery. Syn. -- To embarrass; perplex; confuse; bewilder; confound. See Embarrass.

Puzzle

Puz"zle, v. i. 1. To be bewildered, or perplexed.
A puzzling fool, that heeds nothing.
2. To work, as at a puzzle; as, to puzzle over a problem.

Something which perplexes or embarrasses; especially, a toy or a problem contrived for testing ingenuity; also, something exhibiting marvelous skill in making.

To perplex; to confuse; to embarrass; to put to a stand; to nonplus.

To be bewildered, or perplexed.

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Usage Examples

I wanna make a jigsaw puzzle that's 40,000 pieces. And when you finish it, it says 'go outside.'

Who in the world am I? Ah, that's the great puzzle.

Let schoolmasters puzzle their brain, With grammar, and nonsense, and learning, Good liquor, I stoutly maintain, Gives genius a better discerning.

Misspelled Form

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Other Usage Examples

I like to edit my sentences as I write them. I rearrange a sentence many times before moving on to the next one. For me, that editing process feels like a form of play, like a puzzle that needs solving, and it's one of the most satisfying parts of writing.

A little girl who finds a puzzle frustrating might ask her busy mother (or teacher) for help. The child gets one message if her mother expresses clear pleasure at the request and quite another if mommy responds with a curt 'Don't bother me - I've got important work to do.'

I can't live without my smartphone, but I really geek on coding. It's not so much technology that I like, but puzzle solving.

For many years, it seemed as if nothing changed in Norway. You could leave the country for three months, travel the world, through coups d'etat, assassinations, famines, massacres and tsunamis, and come home to find that the only new thing in the newspapers was the crossword puzzle.

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