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puzzle
Chinese puzzle
1. A puzzle game consisting of intricate and complex pieces that fit together in a specific manner, especially of multiple boxes that fit inside one another. My uncle gave me this Chinese puzzle for Christmas, and I still haven't been able to solve it!
2. Any problem, question, or situation that is especially complex or difficult to understand. Dealing with growing income inequality is truly a Chinese puzzle for lawmakers today. I can't understand a thing about how this engine works, it's like a dang Chinese puzzle!
puzzle over someone or something
to consider or ponder. I can't puzzle out the mean—someone or something. Anne is a bit strange. I've spent some time puzzling over her. While I was puzzling over why she had slapped me, she did it again.
puzzle something out
to figure something out. It took me a while to puzzle it out. I can't puzzle out the meaning of this argument.
puzzle out something
also puzzle something out to study something in order to understand it
The reader shouldn't have to puzzle out what the writer means.. Related vocabulary:
figure out something puzzle over something
to give a lot of attention and thought to something I puzzled over those words, trying to understand their hidden message.
Related vocabulary: tease out somethingpuzzle out
Clarify or solve something, as in It took him a while to puzzle out the significance of the statement. [Late 1700s]
puzzle out
v. To come to a conclusion or find an answer, especially as the result of a careful thought process: I puzzled out the identity of the murderer before finishing the novel. The answer escaped me at first, but I finally puzzled the problem out.