puzzle

Pluralpuzzles

Formspuzzles, puzzling, puzzled

1. 1
   nouncountable

   A game you solve by working out the answer, often tricky and fun.

   We bought a new puzzle to play together on rainy days.

   This puzzle took the whole family an hour to finish.

   Similarbrainteaser, problem

   Note
2. 2
   verbtransitive

   To confuse someone so they cannot understand or explain something.

   Like when a magic trick leaves you wondering how it was done.

   Hard riddles puzzle most kids at first.

   The strange message puzzled her for days.

   Similarperplex, baffle, confuse, bewilder, mystify

   Oppositeenlighten

   Note
3. 3
   nouncountable

   Anything that is hard to understand or figure out.

   Her change of mood was a real puzzle to her friends.

   The broken machine became a puzzle no one could solve.

   Similarmystery, enigma, riddle, conundrum

   Note
4. 4
   verbintransitive

   To think hard about something for a long time because it confuses you.

   I puzzle over these questions every night before sleep.

   She puzzled over the map for an hour.

   Similarponder, wonder, muse, brood

   Note
5. 5
   nouncountable

   A picture cut into many small pieces that you fit back together.

   We spread the puzzle pieces across the table and started matching them.

   She finished the thousand-piece puzzle of a mountain scene.

   Similarjigsaw

6. 6
   nouncountable

   A word game with a grid where you fill in answers using clues.

   He fills in the newspaper puzzle, stuck on a five-letter clue.

   She solved the whole puzzle without looking up a single clue.

   Similarcrossword

7. 7
   nouncountable

   A tricky question or word game with a clever, hidden answer.

   She asked me a puzzle about a man crossing a river.

   Nobody could answer the old puzzle about the three doors.

   Similarriddle, conundrum, brainteaser

8. 8
   nouncountable or uncountable

   The feeling of being confused and unable to understand something.

   Like the foggy feeling when nothing seems to make sense.

   He sat in a puzzle, unable to make up his mind.

   The strange message put her in a puzzle for the rest of the day.

   Similarconfusion, perplexity, bewilderment, bafflement, quandary

   Oppositecertainty, clarity

   Note
9. 9
   verbtransitive

   To make something tangled or hard to sort out.

   They disentangle from the puzzled skein.

   1782, William Cowper, The TaskHere, puzzled means tangled up and hard to sort out.

   Note

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