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puzzle

noun
/ˈpʌzəl/CA/ˈpɐzəl/

Etymology

The verb, of uncertain origin, is attested first. Apparently cognate with Scots pousle, pouzle, poozle (“to trifle; poke or potter around aimlessly; search about with uncertainty”), Saterland Frisian puzelje (“to work hard and continuously”), West Frisian peuzelje (“to trifle, work slowly; eat slowly and daintifully, snack”), Dutch peuzelen (“to perform insignificant work, dawdle; pick at, eat with relish in small pieces, snack”), German Low German pusseln (“to tinker, fiddle; trifle”) and pöseln (“to work hard, toil; to slave away; suffer at work; work slowly and ineffectively”), German posseln, bosseln (“to perform trivial work, tinker”), Danish pusle (“to busy oneself with light work or chores; to be occupied with a task requiring ingenuity, care, and patience; to tinker”), Swedish pyssla (“to do light work; tinker; putter or potter around”), Norwegian Nynorsk pusla, putla (“to potter about”), Faroese putla (“to trifle; potter about; do one's work slowly; be dilatory”), Faroese puss (“damage, trick”). * An early form of the word is pusle, which is similar to Old English puslian (“to pick out the best bits, carefully select, cull”). It is possible that the meaning of the word evolved from “to pick out the best bits”, to “to think long and carefully in bewilderment while choosing what to pick out”, to “to think long and carefully in bewilderment”. However, there is no evidence in Middle English or modern English of any intermediate words with these meanings. * Alternatively, it has been suggested that the word is from pose (“(obsolete) to interrogate, question”) + -le (frequentative suffix). However, the Oxford English Dictionary notes that early forms of the word are all spelled with -u-, and that a sound change in Middle English from ō to u “is not easily accounted for”. * Finally, it has been suggested that the past participle form of the word is attested by Middle English poselet. This is thought to be unlikely by the Oxford English Dictionary as poselet is attested in only one quotation with the meaning “jostled, pushed”, which does not have any connection with the current senses of the word. The noun appears to be derived from the verb.

  1. inherited from puslian — “to pick out the best bits, carefully select, cull”

Definitions

  1. The state of feeling confused or mystified because one cannot understand a complicated…

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

    • Certainly, Men in Great Fortunes, are ſtrangers to themſelues, and vvhile they are in the puſle of buſineſſe, they haue no time to tend their Health, either of Body, or Minde.
    • She stopt, felt herself getting into a puzzle, and could not be prevailed on to add another word, not by dint of several minutes of supplication and waiting.
    • My lady—your ladyship. It sounds very strange, and as if it was not natural. I never thought of it before; but, now you have named it, I am all in a puzzle.

  2. A thing such as a complicated matter or a problem which is difficult to make sense of or…

    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.

    • Where he went after he left the house is a puzzle.
    • About the painting I have a great puzzle in my head between [George] Vertue, Mr. D'Urry, and Bishop Tanner [Thomas Tanner?].

  3. Often preceded by a descriptive word

    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.

    • crossword puzzle    jigsaw puzzle
  4. ›+ 9 more definitions

    1. Short for puzzle-peg (“a piece of wood secured under a dog's jaw to keep the dog's nose…

      Short for puzzle-peg (“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”).

      • So I ſent for a carpenter, on the receipt of your recipe, and had a large Puzzle of Oak made for him [a dog], after the pattern of thoſe vvorn by the Squire's Pointers; and I have found it anſvver prodigiouſly.

    2. To cause (oneself or someone, or their mind, etc.) to feel confused or mystified because…

      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.

      • [H]e has a very ſmart VVit, and is a very ſhrevvd Diſputant in thoſe Points himſelf ſeems moſt puzzled in, and is therein very dexterous in puzzling others, if they be not thorough-paced Speculators in thoſe great Theories.

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

      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.).

      • VVhich puſles the braine, and doth confound the ſence, / VVhich makes vs rather beare thoſe euilles vve haue, / Than flie to others that vve knovv knot of.
      • VVhat haſt thou to do vvith Thought? Mind thy ovvn Buſineſs, and never puzzle thy Noddle vvith Thought.
      • […] I can't deny the mark upon his cheek, though I may puzzle the question between right and left. He may, or he may not, be Demetrius: […]

    4. To (intentionally) make (something) complicated or confused, and so difficult to resolve…

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

      • [H]e vvas heard vvith great attention, though his Parts vvere moſt prevalent in puzzling and perplexing that diſcourſe he meant to croſs.
      • The VVays of Heav'n are dark and intricate, / Puzzled in Mazes, and perplext vvith Errors; / Our Underſtanding traces 'em in vain, / Loſt and bevvilder’d in the fruitleſs Search; […]

    5. To cause (someone) to not know what to do due to some problem, situation, etc.

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

      • I ſay there is no darkneſſe but ignorance, in vvhich thou art more puzel'd then the Ægyptians in their fogge.
      • [W]e found ground at forty fadomes, many Snakes ſvvimming about our ſhips, vvhich (vvith the vvaters changing colour) aſſured us vve vvere neere the ſhoare (the laſt ſtorme had puzled us) […]
      • Benevolence? vvhich ſhall I be benevolent to; or vvhich firſt? I am puſſell'd in the choice.

    6. Often followed by about, over, or upon

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

    7. Often followed by about, over, or or upon

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

      • We puzzled over the curious-shaped lock, but were unable to discover how the key should be inserted.
      • [B]oth I my ſelfe and divers vvhom I knovv, have pored and puſled vpon many an old Record and Evidence to ſatisfie our ſelves herein: […]
      • [O]ur Advocate, vvho puzzling on, betvveen his true and falſe Gods, hangs, like a falſe Teacher as he is, betvveen Heaven and Earth, in the Fool's Paradiſe of Pagan Philoſophy.

    8. To search in a confused or mystified manner.

    9. Followed by through

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

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at puzzle. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01puzzle02mystified03puzzled04perplexed05confused06confuse07bewilder

A definitional loop anchored at puzzle. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

7 hops · closes at puzzle

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA