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Glite Dictionary
🧩 A thinking game 🤔 To confuse 🧠 To think hard
to puzzle

to puzzle

29 3.9
To try to understand something difficult by thinking about it
  • verb
  • /ˈpʌzəl/
translation icon : darle vueltas a
  • The complex directions began to puzzle me, leaving me unsure of how to proceed.
  • puzzled reader
  • puzzled researchers

And so I think that reckoning of I've lost, I've lost my way was a very powerful thing to kind of work with and try and puzzle through.

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Examples

Synonyms

to think
vsto puzzle
∞ 1.0

To use your mind to consider something carefully

is limited to difficult issues and also means being uncertain
to figure out
vsto puzzle
  • Informal
∞ 2.2

To think about something and find an answer or understand it

is more about the process of wondering and sometimes uncertainty
to doubt
vsto puzzle
∞ 1.3

To feel not sure about something or think it is not true

is mainly trying to understand rather than feeling disbelief
to puzzle over
vsto puzzle
7 5.9

Think carefully about something because it is hard to understand

is less focused on careful study and includes feeling unsure
to puzzle out
vsto puzzle
4 4.4

To think hard to find the answer to a difficult problem

focuses on trying to understand and also on feeling uncertain
to scooby
vsto puzzle
  • Slang
9.9

To understand something difficult or confusing

is the broader act of trying to understand sometimes with doubt

Antonyms

to know
∞ 1.0

To have information about something

to understand
∞ 1.0

To know the meaning of something

Phrasal Verbs

to puzzle over
7 5.9

Think carefully about something because it is hard to understand

to puzzle out
4 4.4

To think hard to find the answer to a difficult problem

Compounds

crossword puzzle
39 2.1

A game where you write words in a square grid using clues

piece of the puzzle
34 3.0

An important fact that helps explain a situation or solve a problem

jigsaw puzzle
18 2.2

A picture cut into many pieces that you fit together

Chinese puzzle
1 9.6

A very complicated object with boxes inside boxes that is hard to open

monkey puzzle
  • UK
9.0

A large South American tree with spiny branches and edible seeds

thought-provoking puzzle
6.3

Something that makes you think hard about a topic

How Deep

to ruminate
10 7.6
to ponder
134 4.3
to puzzle
29 3.9
to think about
∞ 1.0
to wonder
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

puzzle infinitive
puzzled past
puzzled past participle
puzzling present participle
puzzles third person singular

Etymology

The verb puzzle can also mean to think hard about something, and it links back to the same idea as pose 'to ask' or present a problem. So to puzzle over an issue is to keep asking your mind until you find an answer.