puzzle🔊

(transitive)

(passive voice) To cause (oneself or someone, or their mind, etc.) to feel confused or mystified because they cannot understand a complicated matter, a problem, etc.; to confuse, to mystify, to perplex.

To use (one's brain or mind) to try to work out a complicated matter, a problem, etc.; also, to try to work out (a complicated matter, a problem, etc.).

(obsolete)

# To (intentionally) make (something) complicated or confused, and so difficult to resolve or understand; to confuse, to complicate.

# (passive voice) To cause (someone) to not know what to do due to some problem, situation, etc.; to bewilder, to confound, to perplex.

(intransitive)

''Often followed by'' about,'' over, or'' upon: to feel confused or mystified because one cannot understand a complicated matter, a problem, etc.

''Often followed by'' about,'' over, or'' or upon: to think deeply in bewilderment to try to work out a complicated matter, a problem, etc.

To search in a confused or mystified manner.

''Followed by'' through: to solve a complicated matter, a problem, etc., by working through confusing or difficult matters.

The state of feeling confused or mystified because one cannot understand a complicated matter, a problem, etc.; bewilderment, confusion; ''often in'' in a puzzle: an instance of this.

A thing such as a complicated matter or a problem which is difficult to make sense of or understand; also, a person who is difficult to make sense of or understand; an enigma.

(game)''Often preceded by a descriptive word'': a game or toy, or a problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one's mental ability.

(obsolete) (t=a piece of wood secured under a dog's jaw to keep the dog's nose away from the ground so that it uses the scent in the air to track its quarry, and to prevent the dog from tearing the quarry once found).