puzzle
- a toy, problem, or other contrivance designed to amuse by presenting difficulties to be solved by ingenuity or patient effort.
- something puzzling; a puzzling question, matter, or person.
- a puzzled or perplexed condition; bewilderment.
- a crossword puzzle: Did you do the puzzle in the newspaper today?
- a jigsaw puzzle.
- to put (someone) at a loss; mystify; confuse; baffle: Her attitude puzzles me.
- to frustrate or confound, as the understanding; perplex: The problem puzzled him for weeks.
- to exercise (oneself, one's brain, etc.) over some problem or matter.
- Archaic. to make intricate or complicated.
- to be perplexed or confused.
- to ponder or study over some perplexing problem or matter.
- puzzle out, to solve by careful study or effort: I was unable to puzzle out the message.
Origin of puzzle
Synonyms for puzzle
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comRelated Words for puzzle
mystify, disturb, complicate, stump, perplex, bewilder, flummox, rattle, befuddle, nonplus, bemuse, disconcert, distract, frustrate, confound, amaze, flabbergast, dumbfound, stumble, floorExamples from the Web for puzzle
Contemporary Examples of puzzle
For passengers, beyond the statistics lies a puzzle that has persisted for years.
Without access to the site, reporters, social media, and governments put together pieces of the puzzle.
But just picture a puzzle on the ground; say a puzzle of the Trade Center.
Police say that the final pieces of the puzzle were put together in the second week of March.
Hero or Criminal? James Brady, the WTC Ironworker Who Jumped Off the BuildingMichael Daly
March 25, 2014
Schindler said this has been a puzzle for the U.S. intelligence community since the days of the cold war.
Ex- CIA Chief: Why We Keep Getting Putin WrongEli Lake, Noah Shachtman, Christopher Dickey
March 2, 2014
Historical Examples of puzzle
He had discovered years before that he was sometimes able thus to puzzle her momentarily.
The SpendersHarry Leon Wilson
There was no reasoning which could help him in the midst of that puzzle.
Way of the LawlessMax Brand
We see that the puzzle about identity proves at last to be of Grecian origin.
Tales And Novels, Volume 4 (of 10)Maria Edgeworth
There was another consideration, however, which at this time was rather a puzzle.
Heroes of the TelegraphJ. Munro
He made for his own woods, and sat down to try to puzzle it out.
The Biography of a GrizzlyErnest Seton-Thompson
puzzle
- to perplex or be perplexed
- (intr foll by over) to attempt the solution (of); ponder (about)he puzzled over her absence
- (tr usually foll by out) to solve by mental efforthe puzzled out the meaning of the inscription
- a person or thing that puzzles
- a problem that cannot be easily or readily solved
- the state or condition of being puzzled
- a toy, game, or question presenting a problem that requires skill or ingenuity for its solutionSee jigsaw puzzle, Chinese puzzle
Word Origin for puzzle
Word Origin and History for puzzle
c.1600, "state of being puzzled," from puzzle (v.); meaning "perplexing question" is from 1650s; that of "a toy contrived to test one's ingenuity" is from 1814.