Library / English Dictionary

PUZZLE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A game that tests your ingenuity

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("puzzle" is a kind of...):

game (the game equipment needed in order to play a particular game)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "puzzle"):

Chinese puzzle (intricate or ingenious puzzle consisting of boxes within boxes)

jigsaw puzzle (a puzzle that requires you to reassemble a picture that has been mounted on a stiff base and cut into interlocking pieces)

tangram (a Chinese puzzle consisting of a square divided into seven pieces that must be arranged to match particular designs)

crossword; crossword puzzle (a puzzle in which words corresponding to numbered clues are to be found and written in to squares in the puzzle)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A particularly baffling problem that is said to have a correct solution

Example:

that's a real puzzler

Synonyms:

mystifier; puzzle; puzzler; teaser

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("puzzle" is a kind of...):

problem (a question raised for consideration or solution)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "puzzle"):

sudoku (a number puzzle in which the numbers 1 through 9 must be placed into a grid of cells so that each row or column contains only one of each number)

acrostic; word square (a puzzle where you fill a square grid with words reading the same down as across)

Derivation:

puzzle (be a mystery or bewildering to)

puzzle (be uncertain about; think about without fully understanding or being able to decide)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Be a mystery or bewildering to

Example:

This question really stuck me

Synonyms:

amaze; baffle; beat; bewilder; dumbfound; flummox; get; gravel; mystify; nonplus; perplex; pose; puzzle; stick; stupefy; vex

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "puzzle" is one way to...):

bedevil; befuddle; confound; confuse; discombobulate; fox; fuddle; throw (be confusing or perplexing to; cause to be unable to think clearly)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "puzzle"):

mix up; stump (cause to be perplexed or confounded)

riddle (set a difficult problem or riddle)

elude; escape (be incomprehensible to; escape understanding by)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s somebody

Sentence examples:

The bad news will puzzle him

The good news will puzzle her

The performance is likely to puzzle Sue

Also:

puzzle out (find the solution to (a problem or question) or understand the meaning of)

puzzle over (try to solve)

Derivation:

puzzle (a particularly baffling problem that is said to have a correct solution)

puzzlement (confusion resulting from failure to understand)

puzzler (a particularly baffling problem that is said to have a correct solution)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Be uncertain about; think about without fully understanding or being able to decide

Example:

We puzzled over her sudden departure

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Hypernyms (to "puzzle" is one way to...):

chew over; contemplate; excogitate; meditate; mull; mull over; muse; ponder; reflect; ruminate; speculate; think over (reflect deeply on a subject)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Sentence example:

Sam and Sue puzzle over the results of the experiment

Derivation:

puzzle (a particularly baffling problem that is said to have a correct solution)

puzzlement (confusion resulting from failure to understand)

Credits

 Context examples: 

I was fairly puzzled by it all.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

During our return journey, I could see by Holmes’s face that he was much puzzled by something which he had observed.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“I do not get on at all. I hear such different accounts of you as puzzle me exceedingly.”

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

It was her turn to be puzzled. "What do you mean?" she asked.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

Puzzle as I would, I could make nothing at all of what it meant.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Dorothy was puzzled at this, for it sounded queer to hear a stuffed man speak, and to see him bow and walk along beside her.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

The puzzle presented by this region is one thing that keeps astronomers coming back to it.

(Spitzer Studies a Stellar Playground With a Long History, NASA)

This reading had puzzled me extremely at first, but by degrees I discovered that he uttered many of the same sounds when he read as when he talked.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

I had always my eye open for seafaring men, with one leg or two, and I remember this one puzzled me.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

They were rapidly forming words for each other, or for any body else who would be puzzled.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)