puzzle
/ˈpʌzl/ (bre, ipa) · /ˈpʌzl/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈpə-zəl/ (ame, mw) · /ˈpʌz.əl/ (bre, ipa) · /ˈpʌz.əl/ (ame, ipa)
puzzle — noun
1. A baffling event or situation that seems to have no clear explanation and is har
A baffling event or situation that seems to have no clear explanation and is hard to make sense of.
The ancient stone carvings are a puzzle that archaeologists have debated for decades.
pattern: be a puzzle + relative clause
Why the factory closed when business was good remains a puzzle for the whole town.
pattern: why-clause + remains a puzzle
The puzzle of how birds navigate across oceans fascinates many biologists.
No one has solved the puzzle of why that ancient city was suddenly abandoned.
The missing ring was a puzzle until Mayumi found it under the sofa cushion.
- mystery
more emotional — suggests something secret or unknown that fascinates people; 'puzzle' is more about logic and explanation
- enigma
more formal and literary; suggests something mysterious on a deeper, almost philosophical level
- conundrum
often used for a tricky question or problem, sometimes with a touch of humour
文法句型
be a puzzle to + noun phrase
the puzzle of + wh-clause
用法筆記
Often appears in the patterns 'be a puzzle to [someone]' or 'the puzzle of [question]'. This sense is always countable and usually refers to a single baffling matter.
常見錯誤
2. An activity for fun in which you assemble separate pieces to form a complete pic
An activity for fun in which you assemble separate pieces to form a complete picture or shape, such as a jigsaw or a block puzzle.
Gita spent the whole rainy afternoon putting together a 500-piece puzzle of a mountain lake.
collocation: putting together a puzzle
The wooden puzzle has twelve interlocking pieces that form a perfect cube when assembled.
describing a non-picture puzzle
My grandmother does crosswords and jigsaw puzzles to keep her mind sharp.
Chiara found the last puzzle piece under the rug after searching the whole room.
The tangram puzzle contained seven flat tiles that could be arranged into many different shapes.
- jigsaw
specifically refers to a picture cut into interlocking pieces; the most common subtype of this sense
- brainteaser
overlaps with sense 3; focuses on a mental challenge rather than physical assembly
文法句型
jigsaw puzzle
crossword puzzle
puzzle piece
do a puzzle
solve a puzzle
用法筆記
The most common type is a 'jigsaw puzzle'. This sense also covers other assembly games such as Rubik's-style cubes, tangrams, and interlocking-block puzzles.
常見錯誤
3. A question or problem designed to test a person's knowledge, skill, or logical t
A question or problem designed to test a person's knowledge, skill, or logical thinking.
The logic puzzle asked students to find the missing number in a long sequence.
collocation: logic puzzle
Sunday newspapers in Taipei often include a crossword puzzle and sudoku on one page.
collocation: crossword puzzle
Kevin solved the riddle quickly — it was the easiest puzzle in the book.
The puzzle book contains over a hundred riddles and number games for travellers.
Wei enjoys the daily word puzzle in the app because it teaches new vocabulary.
- riddle
a specific type of puzzle that uses wordplay or a tricky question; often has a clever or surprising answer
- brainteaser
informal; a puzzle that requires creative or lateral thinking rather than knowledge
文法句型
logic puzzle
word puzzle
crossword puzzle
puzzle book
用法筆記
This sense differs from sense 2 because the 'puzzle' here is a mental exercise (a question to answer), not a physical object to assemble. Crosswords and sudoku belong here; jigsaws belong to sense 2.
常見錯誤
puzzle — verb
1. To leave a person uncertain about what is happening, because events seem to lack
To leave a person uncertain about what is happening, because events seem to lack any logical reason.
The sudden change in the contract terms puzzled the lawyers who drafted it.
pattern: subject (situation) + puzzled + person
It puzzled Wei that his best friend did not return his calls after the argument.
pattern: it puzzles [person] that-clause
The tourists were puzzled by the handwritten sign and asked a local for help.
The results of the experiment puzzled the team because they contradicted the main theory.
It puzzled Anjali that her neighbour never seemed to sleep through the night.
- baffle
stronger than 'puzzle' — suggests complete inability to understand, often with frustration
- perplex
slightly more formal; suggests a state of anxious uncertainty rather than mere confusion
- confuse
broader and more common; can be temporary or about simple things, while 'puzzle' implies sustained difficulty
文法句型
puzzle + noun phrase
it puzzles + noun phrase + that-clause
be puzzled by + noun phrase
用法筆記
Frequently used in the passive voice ('be puzzled by/at'). The active form usually has a situation, event, or piece of behaviour as the subject — not a person. To describe a person who causes confusion, use 'confuse' or 'baffle' instead.
常見錯誤
2. To think hard about a problem or situation, trying to find an answer through car
To think hard about a problem or situation, trying to find an answer through careful reasoning.
Chidi puzzled over the math problem for an hour before finding the answer.
pattern: puzzle over + topic
The detectives are puzzling about how the thief got past the locks and the alarms.
pattern: puzzle about + wh-clause
Ari puzzled out the meaning of the old letter with help from his grandmother.
Noor puzzled for days over the final clue in the competition.
The team spent the meeting puzzling through ways to cut costs without losing staff.
- ponder
suggests slow, careful, sometimes deep thought; less urgent than 'puzzle over'
- figure out
more informal and goal-oriented — you figure out the answer, whereas you puzzle over the problem
- ignore
to deliberately pay no attention to a problem rather than thinking about it
文法句型
puzzle over + noun phrase
puzzle about + noun phrase
puzzle + noun phrase + out
用法筆記
This is an intransitive or phrasal sense, used with 'puzzle over', 'puzzle about', or 'puzzle out'. The separable phrasal verb 'puzzle out' means 'to figure out through careful thought'.