puzzlen.
/ˈpʌzl/, U.S. /ˈpəz(ə)l/ 1. The state or condition of being puzzled; bewilderment, bafflement, confusion; perplexity as to how to act or decide; an instance of this. Now usually to be in a puzzle: to be in a state of bewilderment or confusion.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > perplexity, bewilderment > [noun]
mingingOE
riddleOE
cumbermentc1300
willa1325
encumbrancec1330
were1338
perplexitya1393
discomfiturea1425
cumbrancec1460
confuse1483
proplexity1487
perplexion?c1500
amazedness?1520
amazement1553
subversion1558
amaze?1560
perplexednessa1586
confusedness1587
puzzle1599
confusion1600
mizmaze1604
discomfita1616
embarras1627
obfuscation1628
mystery1629
confoundedness1641
puzzledness1662
confuseness1710
puzzlement1731
puzzledom1748
embarrassment1751
puzzleation1767
bepuzzlement1806
conjecture1815
mystification1817
bewilderment1819
perplexment1826
fuddle1827
wilderment1830
discomforture1832
head-scratching1832
baffle1843
posement1850
muddlement1857
turbidity1868
fogging1878
bemuddlement1884
harl1889
befuddlement1905
turbidness1906
wuzziness1942
perplexability1999
1599 H. Porter Pleasant Hist. Two Angrie Women of Abington sig. I Swounds what a pussell am I in this night.
1612 F. Bacon Ess. (new ed.) 40 While they are in the pussle of busines they haue no time to tend their health.
1628 O. Felltham Resolves: 2nd Cent. xxvii. 85 Beyond them, wee meete with nothing but the puzzle of the soule, and the dazle of the minds dimme eyes.
1697 J. Sergeant Solid Philos. 59 Later Philosophers were at a great puzzle about it.
1736 Bp. J. Butler Analogy of Relig. i. vi. 104 The Puzzle and Obscurity..from arguing upon so absurd a Supposition as That of universal Necessity.
1767 G. White Let. 4 Aug. in Nat. Hist. Selborne (1789) 29 Linnæus seems to be in a puzzle about his mus amphibius.
1814 J. Austen Mansfield Park III. iii. 66 She stopt, felt herself getting into a puzzle, and could not be prevailed on to add another word. View more context for this quotation
1853 E. C. Gaskell Cranford viii How Lady Arley was addressed, she could not remember... ‘I never thought of it before; but, now you have named it, I am all in a puzzle.’
1873 M. Arnold Lit. & Dogma v. 135 The result would be..utter puzzle and bewilderment.
1925 Times 5 Nov. 12/2 Mr. Raven Hill shows us..P.C. Baldwin scratching his head in a puzzle.
1990 Fast Forward 28 Mar. 29/3 Yep, now you can get in a puzzle over your favourite pop stars.
2003 Sun (Lowell, Mass.) (Nexis) 16 Nov. I have no clue..I'm still in a puzzle as to who is doing what, where.
2. A puzzling or perplexing question; a difficult problem; a person who or thing which is hard to understand, an enigma.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > a profound secret, mystery > puzzle, enigma, riddle > [noun]
riddleOE
purposec1350
problema1382
propositiona1382
conclusion1393
divinailc1430
opposal?a1439
riddling?c1475
wordc1480
why1532
dark, hard sentence1535
enigma1539
remblere1599
puzzlement1646
gripha1652
puzzler1651
riddlemy riddlemy1652
puzzle1655
crux1718
teaser1759
puzzleation1767
conundrum1790
poser1793
riddle-me-ree1805
stumper1807
tickler1825
sticker1849
brain-teaser1850
grueller1856
question mark1870
brain-twister1878
skull-buster1926
mind-bender1968
1655 H. More Antidote against Atheism (ed. 2) App. xi. 376 To the last puzzle propounded, whether these Archei [seminal forms] be so many sprigs of the common Soul of the world, or particular subsistencies of themselves..it may be either way.
1710 T. Blomer Full View Dr. Bentley's Let. 150 There is no Intricacy, no Error, no Puzzle, no Iniquity, in any of This, as there is in all His Proposal.
1760 T. Gray Wks. (1884) I. 306 About the painting I have a great puzzle in my head between Vertue, Mr. D'Urry, and Bishop Tanner.
1823 C. Lamb in London Mag. May 533/2 He is a puzzle to the servants, who are fearful of being too obsequious, or not civil enough, to him.
1856 E. K. Kane Arctic Explor. I. xxix. 397 It is a puzzle of some interest where they have retreated to.
1897 B. Stoker Dracula xiii. 170 He went away on the word, leaving me with a new mystery to think of, a new puzzle to grapple with.
1927 A. Conan Doyle Case-bk. Sherlock Holmes 20 Who knows Watson? Woman's heart and mind are insoluble puzzles to the male.
1967 G. Steiner Lang. & Silence 198 There are numerous puzzles regarding Shakespeare's plays..baffling enough to convert sane men to Baconianism.
2005 J. Scaggs Crime Fiction i. 24 The centrality of the mystery or puzzle of the moonstone, and its final solution..qualifies the novel as a crime story.
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the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping dogs or cats > [noun] > keeping or affinity with dogs > place to exercise hounds > collars, leads, etc.
linea1000
collar1377
torretc1386
dog collar1485
doghook1528
terret1530
slip1564
dogwhip1583
trash1611
shangan1787
puzzle-peg1789
puzzle1792
shangy1825
leading-strap1856
nosepiece1865
dog tag1882
lead1893
harness1895
silent whistle1923
standing iron1934
1792 ‘C. Cassock’ in G. Gambado Ann. Horsemanship 2 I..had a large Puzzle of Oak made for him, after the pattern of those worn by the Squire's Pointers.
1845 W. Youatt Dog v. 113 There was the puzzle and the check-collar [as a punishment] for killing other dogs.
4. Something devised or made for the purpose of testing one's ingenuity, knowledge, patience, etc.; a toy or problem of this kind.Sometimes with modifying word specifying the type of puzzle, as Chinese, crossword, jigsaw puzzle, etc.: see the first element.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > toy or plaything > puzzle > [noun]
puzzle1814
join-the-dots1973
1781 J. Woodforde Diary 16 Mar. (1924) I. 304 To 7 pieces of wood, a Puzzle thing, pd 0. 0. 6.]
1814 W. Scott Waverley III. xvii. 248 That ingenious puzzle, called a reel in a bottle, the marvel of children..who can neither comprehend the mystery how it has got in, or how it is to be taken out. View more context for this quotation
1858 P. L. Simmonds Dict. Trade Products Puzzles, various articles of turnery ware and carving; dissecting maps, and pictures for children.
1872 H. T. Ellacombe Church Bells Devon Suppl. ix. 269 I have mentioned where some ABC puzzles are to be found.
1895 (title) The puzzle box. Containing six distinct puzzles.
1928 D. H. Lawrence Lady Chatterley's Lover xi. 176 The whole thing..was as big as a small, but fat week-end bag. And inside, it fitted together like a puzzle.
1931 R. Riskin Platinum Blonde in Six Screenplays (1997) 4 One of those hand-puzzles where you have to land jumping beans in the holes.
1988 D. Rees GCSE CDT—Design & Realisation vi. 43 It is the method you would use to solve a puzzle, e.g. Rubik cube, or snake.
2006 N.Y. Mag. 19 June 126/2 Sudoku..is the ultimate puzzle for a postliterate world.
Compounds
C1.
a. General attributive, in sense ‘of or relating to a puzzle’; also appositive, in sense ‘that is or involves a puzzle or puzzles’.
puzzle book n.
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1845 T. Cooper Purgatory of Suicides 186 Thy puzzle-book Thou read'st more skilfully than I.
1903 Publ. Mod. Lang. Assoc. Amer. 18 215 Randle Holme..finished in such wise a puzzle book for his troop of boys and girls.
1950 Syracuse (N.Y.) Herald-Jrnl. 7 Feb. 17/4 He'll have to sail through..his special puzzle book in record time so that he won't be late for dinner.
1997 Stocking Fillas 1997–98 (Innovations plc) 21/1 Fantastic value—6 different puzzle books in a case, for hours of crosswords, dot-to-dot, mazes and memory games.
puzzle card n.
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1853 E. C. Gaskell Cranford viii. 152 There was a kaleidoscope, conversation-cards, puzzle-cards.
1894 Cent. Mag. May 712/1 A faint belief in the ability of puzzle-cards tied together with faded ribbon to amuse a visitor.
1991 Wellsboro (Pa.) Gaz. 11 Dec. 12/1 Each child received a red or green helium filled balloon, Christmas activity puzzle card and placemat.
2006 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 15 Jan. vii. 18 By buying packs of puzzle cards, players can join the search for the Cube—solving the puzzles may bring you closer to solving the mystery.
puzzle map n.
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1853 Times 14 Jan. 3/3 3 Boxes puzzle maps.
1888 R. Kipling Lispeth in Plain Tales from Hills 5 There was an old puzzle-map of the World in the house. She..used to put it together.
1942 W. Booth In Darkest Eng. ii. ii. 122 It is like the puzzle maps of children. When you are putting one together, you suddenly come upon some awkward piece that will not fit in.
2005 Record (Bergen County, New Jersey) (Nexis) 19 Dec. f2 The two teams returned to the puzzle map and had to race back and forth from a clue box with 12 icons and place them on the map.
puzzle-picture n.
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1865 C. T. Brooks tr. J. P. F. Richter Hesperus II. xxvii. 48 They fancy less the enduring but mosaic pictures of Nature, in which whole mountain ridges are the mosaic-pebbles, than the more delicate, but smaller puzzle-pictures of the artists.
1893 Science 17 Mar. 143/2 Our puzzle-picture turns out to be a kaleidoscopic variety and appears in a different aspect to every observer.
1978 Country Life 21 Sept. 850/4 Roy Strong..treated Yeames's And when did you last see your father? as a puzzle picture which ‘leaves us to fill in what has gone before..in a highly tantalizing way’.
2004 J. Schulte in J. Gibson & W. Huemer Literary Wittgenstein ii. viii. 159 You have to see it [sc. poetry] the way you would scrutinize a puzzle-picture, as exhibiting more than one face at a time.
puzzle poetry n.
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1880 Decatur (Illinois) Daily Republican 11 Mar. 1/2 (heading) Latest puzzle poetry.
1883 G. A. Simcox Hist. Lat. Lit. II. 447 The natural interest of Ennodius lay in the direction of puzzle poetry.
1981 Black Amer. Lit. 15 41/1 [Sterling A.] Brown rejected the ‘puzzle poetry’ of Pound and Eliot.
2004 Italica (Nexis) 22 Mar. 1 By requiring that the reader solve enigmas, the anonymous poet follows in a long tradition. Italian literature contains..several examples of puzzle poetry.
puzzle question n.
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1856 J. Fulton tr. E. R. Stier Words of Lord Jesus III. 177 The interrogator himself seeks instruction, the others..dispute upon the answer, because they actually hold the question to be a disputed puzzle-question not to be solved.
1908 Daily Chron. 2 Apr. 4/7 The General Knowledge inquiry..has a tendency to produce the, rather unfair, puzzle-question.
2004 New Straits Times (Malaysia) (Nexis) 22 Oct. 12 The puzzle question appears initially ridiculous, and one's attempt to solve it can lead to eccentric and amusing possibilities.
puzzle-solving n.
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1889 Lima (Ohio) Daily Times 3 Aug. The famous..opera manager makes the following offer to the experts at puzzle solving.
1914 Y. Mikami & D. E. Smith Hist. Japanese Math. ii. 14 Instead of leading scholars to the study of pure mathematics, this introduction..seemed rather to foster a study of astrology, and mathematics degenerated into mere puzzle solving.
1990 Amiga Computing Dec. 64/4 The two main differences between the..games are that this second instalment is much bigger and it requires far more lateral thinking and puzzle solving.
2006 Sacramento Bee (Nexis) 14 July tk36 Adventure games..are exercises in exploration, puzzle-solving, character interaction and dialogue.
puzzle thing n.
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1781 J. Woodforde Diary 16 Mar. (1924) I. 304 To 7 pieces of wood, a Puzzle thing, pd 0. 0. 6.
1939 Wellsboro (Pa.) Agitator 20 Sept. 7/1 That puzzle thing I was trying to work the other night..I sent it in just for fun and I won a prize.
2004 Lounge Help Please in uk.rec.competitions (Usenet newsgroup) 4 Mar. It's a sort of puzzle thing like a crossword but with roman numerals.
puzzle word n.
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1900 Daily News 6 Dec. 4/4 Another puzzle word competition was described at the North London Police-court.
1980 Jrnl. Confl. Resol. 24 419 Degree of entrapment appeared to be related to a strategy of first solving as many puzzle words as possible, and only subsequently trying to obtain the dictionary.
2005 Weekly Standard (Nexis) 8 Aug. (Books & Arts section) He virtually never allows himself to repeat a clue, even in crosswords published years apart, which leads to even frequent puzzle words like ALI and ERA being clued freshly every time.
puzzle work n.
ΚΠ
1834 Tait's Edinb. Mag. New Ser. 1 543/1 It is all puzzle-work that to me.
1876 Centennial Newspaper Exhib. 265 The Nursery..furnishes the little folks with an assortment of entertaining reading and puzzle work.
1954 Speculum 29 7 The text lists the various elements of the monastery with their dimensions..and it has been a fine subject for archaeological puzzle-work for some decades.
2002 Sarnia (Ont.) Observer 23 Feb. d6 Finally it is time to lay the flagstone. This is a tedious job because flagstone pieces are all shapes and sizes. It's like puzzlework.
b. In the names of objects and contrivances incorporating some puzzle, or operated by some trick.
puzzle cup n.
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1882 Hamilton Sale Catal. No. 806 A two-handled puzzle-cup painted with flowers.
1968 Metrop. Mus. Art Bull. 26 385 Puzzle cups were made in Holland, where the maiden's portrait was replaced by a windmill... These windmills could be set in motion.
1984 Syracuse (N.Y.) Herald-Jrnl. 11 Jan. b3 Kaskin also makes ceramic animal whistles,..wooden puzzle cups and wooden flying toys.
puzzle jug n.
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1865 Sci. Amer. 1 July 129/2 The puzzle jug was an ale jug, and so contrived..to render it impossible to use it like other jugs.
1960 R. G. Haggar Conc. Encycl. Continental Pottery & Porcelain 375/1 The potter, Cornelis Hendricksz (born 1566), is stated to have made surprise jugs or puzzle jugs.
1993 H. Petroski Evol. Useful Things 171 A curious category of earthenware known as ‘puzzle jug’. These devices had odd projecting tubes, hollow handles, and hidden conduits that carried the liquid in deceptive and unexpected ways.
2006 Western Morning News (Plymouth) (Nexis) 21 Jan. 6 A collection of Barnstaple pieces, which includes a puzzle jug.
puzzle locket n.
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1891 Daily News 23 Feb. 5/5 Mr. T. had just been explaining to Mr. D. the secret of how to open a certain puzzle locket.
1931 Indiana (Pa.) Weekly Messenger 28 May 2/1 He thought much of the puzzle locket now on his neck.
2006 www.themoviespoiler.com 11 Dec. (O.E.D. Archive) He creates a beautiful wooden puzzle locket..and gives it to Sophie with his picture inside.
puzzle ring n.
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1795 Proc. Old Bailey 2 Dec. 308/1 A pearl puzzle ring, value 10s. 6d.
1877 W. Jones Finger-ring Lore 321 Some curious specimens of linked or ‘puzzle-rings’.
1974 J. Gardner Corner Men v. 36 Long slim fingers and a Greek puzzle ring.
2006 Cornish Guardian (Nexis) 16 Feb. 6 Jewellery stolen includes..a three-coloured gold six-piece puzzle ring.
C2.
puzzle box n. (a) a puzzle in the form of a box; (b) Psychology a box with no obvious connection between its door and the opening device, designed to test the learning abilities of an animal in trying to release itself.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > toy or plaything > puzzle > [noun] > other puzzles
puzzle box1831
cryptarithm1943
alphametic1955
Rubik's cube1980
mind game1988
the mind > mental capacity > psychology > developmental psychology > acquisition of knowledge > test of mental ability > [noun] > box for testing animals
puzzle box1831
1831 Freeman's Jrnl. (Dublin) 23 Dec. 1 (advt.) Travelling Cases, Paint and Puzzle Boxes, Chess and Cribbage Boards.
1855 Mountain Democrat (Placerville, Calif.) 8 Dec. 3/2 A select assortment of Catholic Books; Toy Books; Puzzle Boxes; Toys, &c.
1866 A. Trollope Claverings in Cornhill Mag. 13 396 Another girl..was engaged with a puzzle-box.
1901 W. S. Small in Amer. Jrnl. Psychol. 12 231 If the problem set were merely the selection of one effective movement out of several haphazard movements, as was the case with the puzzle-box experiments reported by Dr. Thorndike and myself, then the profiting by experience could be accounted for by the fading away of the useless movements.
1908 M. F. Washburn Animal Mind x. 232 Animals are required to work some kind of mechanism. This may be called briefly the puzzle-box method.
1924 R. M. Ogden tr. K. Koffka Growth of Mind 181 The puzzle-box tests of Thorndike.
1970 E. R. Guthrie in W. S. Sahakian Psychol. of Learning iii. 58 An account of the behavior of cats in a puzzle-box is here offered.
2005 Seattle (Washington) Post-Intelligencer (Nexis) 29 Sept. (Life & Arts section) e1 He's made a puzzle box with 16 little slots. Pull a ribbon and it creates a puzzle.
puzzle lock n. a lock incorporating some sort of puzzle mechanism, esp. a combination lock.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > building and constructing equipment > fastenings > [noun] > lock > combination lock > type of
letter lock?a1650
puzzle lock1838
wheel-lock1875
autodial1932
1838 Times 10 Dec. 3/4 As to Robert Levett,..a puzzle lock was found on him.
1845 P. Barlow Manuf. in Encycl. Metrop. VIII. 316/2 The puzzle or combination lock.
1882 Sir E. Beckett in Encycl. Brit. XIV. 746 Locks which could only be opened by setting a number of rings or disks to a particular combination of letters..were also called puzzle-locks.
1943 Helena (Montana) Independent 1 Sept. 6/3 The smith also made an occasional puzzle lock, the kind that the French made popular in the fifties.
2000 Rocky Mountain News (Denver) (Nexis) 26 Nov. (Home Front section) f13 The..doors..are closed with a wooden puzzle lock.
puzzle path n. a maze.
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1909 N.E.D. at Puzzle sb. Puzzle-path.
2005 Chicago Daily Herald (Nexis) 21 May 1 Hedge mazes..rose from ancient Christian traditions where a puzzle path often would have a representation of the biblical Tree of Life at its center.
puzzle piece n. a literary or creative work that contains a puzzle; (also) a section or piece of a puzzle, esp. a jigsaw puzzle (also figurative).
ΚΠ
1888 Times 28 May 4/7 Public taste has travelled away from the ingeniously dove-tailed puzzle pieces of which..Hennequin was the originator.
1907 Orange County (Middletown, N.Y.) Times-Press 17 May 4/1 The actual hard work done..to fit together the puzzle-pieces involved in the confession of the murderer and prepare the evidence.
1963 Times 18 Nov. 14/1 Mr. Len Deighton's first play for television..was something of a puzzle piece... Fortunately there was more to Mr. Deighton's play than just a puzzle.
1983 P. Theroux Kingdom by Sea v. 54 The Isle of Wight—shaped like the loose puzzle-piece that most offshore islands resemble.
2006 Toronto Star (Nexis) 9 Jan. (Life section) e1 It..gave her a wonderful sense of satisfaction when she fitted in that last puzzle piece.
puzzle-piecing n. the action or process of putting together the pieces of a puzzle; this activity as a pastime.
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1879 Spectator 6 Sept. 1134/2 A final reliance on anatomical puzzle-piecing and dissection, on the part of the artist, would be a perfect illustration..of the instructive fable of the goose which was anatomised for the sake of her golden eggs.
1932 Edwardsville (Illinois) Intelligencer 30 July 3/2 (caption) Jack Oakie's attention is momentarily distracted from his puzzle-piecing by the passing of a pretty girl.
1968 Daily Rev. (Hayward, Calif.) 5 Nov. 13/2 Puzzle-piecing gave way to ball-tossing and then to movie watching.
2002 Washington Times 13 July e1 Discovering the site of the original structure involved a painstaking process of archaeological discoveries, research and puzzle-piecing.
puzzle walk n. a walk which involves solving a puzzle; (also) a maze (cf. puzzle path n.).
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1909 N.E.D. at Puzzle sb. Puzzle-walk, a maze.
1995 Northern Echo (Nexis) 3 Oct. The characters of the BBC television series about mythical Farthing Wood yesterday invited children to join them in Preston Park..for a puzzle walk.
2000 Neath & Port Talbot Courier (Nexis) 10 May 12 The sessions include a variety of outdoor activities including a cycle treasure trail, puzzle walk and orienteering.
Derivatives
ˈpuzzlewise adv. rare after the manner of one solving a puzzle; (also) in terms of puzzles.
ΚΠ
1914 W. J. Locke Fortunate Youth xii. 163 Paul stood ruminating puzzlewise on the audacious behest.
2005 Rocky Mountain News (Denver) (Nexis) 3 Dec. 14 c The News does deserve credit for upgrading its Friday puzzle section recently... So, puzzlewise, the Friday/Saturday News earns a tie with the Friday/Sunday Post.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2007; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
puzzlev.
/ˈpʌzl/, U.S. /ˈpəz(ə)l/ 1. † a. transitive. To cause (a person) to be at a loss what to do or how to proceed; to create difficulties for, obstruct; to perplex, bewilder, confound (with some obstacle, circumstance, etc.). Frequently in passive. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > difficulty > types of difficulty > [verb (transitive)] > make perplexed
perplex1477
puzzlec1595
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > perplexity, bewilderment > act of perplexing > confuse, perplex, bewilder [verb (transitive)] > nonplus
stagger1556
gravel1566
set1577
trump1586
bumbaze1587
puzzlec1595
ground1597
stunt1603
nonplus1605
pose1605
stumble1605
buzzard1624
quandary1681
bamboozle1712
hobble1762
stump1807
have1816
floor1830
flummox1837
stick1851
get1868
to stick up1897
buffalo1903
c1595 Capt. Wyatt in G. F. Warner Voy. R. Dudley to W. Indies (1899) 41 The passage verie troublesome by reason of whole trunckes and bodies of trees lyinge cross the mouth of that narrow ryver..And..wee weare theare pusled.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) iv. ii. 44 Thou art more puzel'd then the Ægyptians in their fogge. View more context for this quotation
1638 T. Herbert Some Yeares Trav. (rev. ed.) 34 [Certain signs] assured us we were neere the shoare (the last storme had puzled us).
1652 R. Brome Joviall Crew iii. sig. H4 I am pussell'd in the choice.
1653 H. Holcroft tr. Procopius Gothick Warre iv. 144 in tr. Procopius Hist. Warres Justinian Their ships stood jumbled together like so many baskets..and thus puzzelling one another, they were the cheifest cause of the Enemies victory.
1697 W. Dampier New Voy. around World v. 105 A large Green Turtle with her weight and struggling will puzzle 2 Men to turn her.
1735 W. Somervile Chace iii. 188 The panting Throng In their own Footsteps puzzled, foil'd, and lost.
1752 G. G. Beekman Let. 22 Nov. in Beekman Mercantile Papers (1956) I. 155 I Should have bin Pusseled to have got any Other Person to Come at this Season of the year if he had refused.
1864 A. J. Evans Macaria xxxi. 406 But for the fog, which puzzled me about three o'clock, I should have run by unseen, and they would never have known it till I was safe in Navy cove.
b. transitive. To cause (someone) to feel confused or perplexed because they cannot understand something (as a difficult question, a complex subject, etc.). Frequently in passive. Now the principal sense.Some of the early examples show transitional use from sense 1a.
ΚΠ
1598 R. Barret Theorike & Pract. Mod. Warres i. 6 Then commeth he to cast them into a ring..now there is he puzzelled.
a1635 T. Randolph Muses Looking-glasse iii. iv. 58 in Poems (1638) I very much feare there be some languages That would goe neere to puzzle me.
1639 N. N. tr. J. Du Bosc Compl. Woman ii. 19 So many great personages were pusled in a great uncertainty.
1668 H. More Divine Dialogues i. 7 He..is a very shrewd Disputant in those Points himself seems most puzzled in, and is therein very dexterous in puzzling others.
1727 P. Frowde Fall of Saguntum v. 52 Wherefore he went to the Field?.. The Question puzzles me.
1732 G. Berkeley Alciphron I. iv. ii. 208 This sort of Arguments..may perhaps puzzle, but never will convince me.
1771 ‘Junius’ Stat Nominis Umbra (1772) II. lxi. 287 He did it with a view to puzzle them with some perplexing question.
1807 Salmagundi 24 Jan. 17 Poor Will Honeycomb..even with his half century of experience, would have been puzzled to point out the humours of a lady by her prevailing colors.
1858 R. W. Emerson Eloquence in Atlantic Monthly Sept. 393/2 Like a schoolmaster puzzled by a hard sum.
1915 J. Turner Let. 19 Apr. in C. Warren Somewhere in France (2019) 7 Your sudden independence had absolutely puzzled him.
1934 R. Graves I, Claudius vi. 97 He used to delight in puzzling the mythological experts..with questions like: ‘What was the name of Hector's maternal grandmother?’
1988 J. G. Ballard Running Wild 64 Puzzled by the blank monitor screens in the gatehouse, officer Turner goes out to inspect the camera mounted on the roof.
2006 Herald Sun (Austral.) (Nexis) 30 May 14 A young Australian scientist has unlocked a secret of the mind that has puzzled brain specialists for decades.
c. transitive. To perplex, bewilder, confound (the brain, mind, will, etc.); (also) to apply (one's brain or mind) to a difficult or perplexing question.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > perplexity, bewilderment > act of perplexing > confuse, perplex, bewilder [verb (transitive)]
abobc1330
confusec1350
confoundc1374
cumbera1375
passc1384
maskerc1400
mopc1425
enose1430
manga1450
overmusec1460
perplex1477
maze1482
enmuse1502
ruffle?a1505
unsteady1532
entangle1540
duddle1548
intricate1548
distraught1579
distract1582
mizzle1583
moider1587
amuse1595
mist1598
bepuzzle1599
gravel1601
plunder1601
puzzle1603
intrigue1612
vexa1613
metagrobolize?a1616
befumea1618
fuddle1617
crucify1621
bumfiddlea1625
implicate1625
giddify1628
wilder1642
buzzlea1644
empuzzle1646
dunce1649
addle1652
meander1652
emberlucock1653
flounder1654
study1654
disorient1655
embarrass?1656
essome1660
embrangle1664
jumble1668
dunt1672
muse1673
clutter1685
emblustricate1693
fluster1720
disorientate1728
obfuscate1729
fickle1736
flustrate1797
unharmonize1797
mystify1806
maffle1811
boggle1835
unballast1836
stomber1841
throw1844
serpentine1850
unbalance1856
tickle1865
fog1872
bumfuzzle1878
wander1897
to put off1909
defeat1914
dither1919
befuddle1926
ungear1931
to screw up1941
1603 W. Shakespeare Hamlet iii. i. 82 A hope of something after death? Which pusles the braine, and doth confound the sence.
1666 W. Sancroft Lex Ignea 29 All our Wit was puzzeld, and all our Industry tir'd out.
1723 S. Centlivre Artifice iii. 36 Mind thy own Business, and never puzzle thy Noddle with Thought.
1754 Bp. T. Sherlock Disc. (1759) I. i. 42 Reveal Mysteries merely to puzzle the Minds of Men.
1831 Society 1 152 Fanny was puzzling her brain to think where she had heard the name before.
1872 ‘M. Twain’ Roughing It xv. 124 She puzzles her brain to cipher out some scheme for getting it into my hands.
1914 J. Joyce Dubliners 11 Though I was angry with old Cotter..I puzzled my head to extract meaning from his unfinished sentences.
1982 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 10 Sept. b 10/4 I puzzled my mind for three days... We had to do something very different than in the first game.
2002 Daily Mail (Nexis) 27 Apr. 12 Chunks of wreckage were tossed ashore and, amid them..was a monkey. The locals..puzzled their brains in trying to work out what it was.
d. transitive (reflexive). To bewilder or perplex oneself; to exercise oneself with difficult problems. Frequently with with.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > perplexity, bewilderment > be confused [verb (reflexive)]
amaze1578
puzzle1613
1613 H. Jackson Let. 13 Jan. in R. Hooker Two Serm. (1614) sig. ¶2 They would not puzzle themselues with the contentions of Scot, & Thomas, Whether God only, or his ministring spirits doe infuse into mens minds propheticall revelations.
1691 J. Hartcliffe Treat. Virtues Pref. 37 We are apt to puzzle our selves with obscure Marks of Grace and doubtful Signs of our good State.
1725 D. Defoe New Voy. round World ii. 157 After they had puzzled themselves here..two or three Days.
1751 Ld. Chesterfield Let. 28 Jan. (1932) (modernized text) IV. 1669 Little minds are in a hurry,..they run, they hare, they puzzle, confound, and perplex, themselves.
1814 T. Jefferson Let. 10 Feb. in Writings (1984) 1327 Hume..examining this article..without perceiving the fraud, puzzles himself with accounting for the inconsistency it had introduced.
1875 B. Jowett in tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) I. 405 When he was young he had puzzled himself with physics.
1934 M. McLuhan Let. 10 Nov. (1987) 39 As for..[Herbert] Spencer—don't puzzle yourself about him. As a philosopher and thinker he is less than nothing.
1996 Beaver (Winnipeg) (Nexis) May 32 Down in the theatre..[Thomas Edison's] vitascope with its life-like views still continues to draw large crowds who go away puzzling themselves as to how it is done.
2.
a. intransitive. To be at a loss how to act or decide; to be bewildered or perplexed for a solution; to think hard about something because one cannot understand it. Frequently with about, over, upon.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > perplexity, bewilderment > be or become confused [verb (intransitive)]
wonder1297
confusec1350
maskera1375
studya1375
to annoy of?c1400
muse?c1430
marc1440
manga1450
puzzle1605
dunce1611
quandary1616
wavera1625
wilder1658
to scratch one's head1712
maffle1781
to strike up1844
turn1852
to fall over oneself1889
fuzz1930
to get the lines crossed1973
1605 W. Camden Remaines i. 93 I my selfe..have pored and pusled vpon many an old Record.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Metagraboulizer, to dunce vpon, to puzzle, or (too much) beat the braines about.
1690 tr. Five Lett. Inspiration 115 Contradictions which the Divines..have not been able to reconcile, after puzling about it above three thousand Years.
1742 W. Warburton Rem. Tillard in Wks. (1811) XI. 180 Our Advocate,..puzzling on between his true and false Gods, hangs, like a false teacher as he is, between heaven and earth.
1803 T. Beddoes Hygëia III. ix. 205 They would puzzle long before guessing what pattern I mean to propose.
1833 Sporting Mag. Jan. 210 Whenever the dog puzzles over the scent.
1922 E. Phillpotts Grey Room iv. 106 He puzzled to understand how fellow Christians could argue against him.
1991 R. R. McCammon Boy's Life i. i. 15 I was puzzling over these questions when the door opened again and Miss Grace came out.
2006 Newsday (N.Y.) (Nexis) 15 Aug. a30 Biologists have puzzled over how..half the English gene pool has acquired Anglo-Saxon Y chromosomes.
b. intransitive. To search in a bewildered or perplexed way; to fumble or grope uncertainly for something; to get through something by overcoming perplexities or difficulties.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > endeavour > searching or seeking > search for or seek [verb (transitive)] > in a bewildered or perplexed way
puzzle1754
1754 J. Davis Origines Divisianae i. 2 They who are but moderately acquainted with the study of the early English antiquities..are..oblig'd to plunge thro' many difficulties and puzzle through a variety of perplexities.
1818 W. Scott Heart of Mid-Lothian i, in Tales of my Landlord 2nd Ser. I. 45 Are you puzzling in your pockets to seek your only memorial among old play bills?
1853 E. K. Kane U.S. Grinnell Exped. xlvii. 437 After puzzling through the floes, we reached a large berg.
1884 St. James's Gaz. 17 Oct. 6/1 The dogs are puzzling about for a bird or a rabbit in cover.
1929 Amer. Fern Jrnl. 19 28 Instead of puzzling through the mysteries of the multitudinous asters and goldenrods..one may claim himself a citizen of ferndom when he has a speaking acquaintance with twenty-five species.
1991 T. Deitz Soulsmith Prol. vi. 146 Jesus, but that's a bunch of stuff to puzzle through.
2006 Houston Chron. (Nexis) 27 Feb. 1 A..flight attendant..noticed more and more airline passengers puzzling through Sudoku.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > order > disorder > confusion or disorder > entanglement or entangled state > complication or complexity > make complicated [verb (transitive)]
entrike?c1425
envolde1451
involve1533
perplex1547
enfold1605
daedalizea1618
fasel1636
interpuzzle1650
puzzle1652
ravel1656
intriguea1677
complicate1832
to twist up1864
1652 W. Brough Sacred Princ. (ed. 2) 63 Let me thinke Thou art the Judge, that I may not..Pervert or Puzzle Right.
1702 Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion I. ii. 110 His Parts were most prevalent in puzzling and perplexing that discourse he meant to cross.
1713 J. Addison Cato i. i The ways of Heaven are dark and intricate, Puzzled in mazes.
1774 J. Wesley Let. 2 May (1931) VI. 79 Until Mr. Hill and his associates puzzled the cause, it was as plain as plain could be.
1782 J. Priestley Inst. Relig. II. 161 Beclouding and puzzling the business.
1823 W. Scott St. Ronan's Well I. vi. 123 This indifference puzzled Lady Penelope's game extremely.
1892 Harper's Mag. Oct. 702/2 He [sc. an artist] is never obliged to resort to trick or device, or to employ meretricious effects. He never has to ‘puzzle’ bad or doubtful drawing.
4. transitive. to puzzle out: to come to understand or perceive, esp. through patience or ingenuity; to work out (an answer, solution, etc.).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > testing > resolving of problem, solution > find solution, solve [verb (transitive)]
findOE
assoilc1374
soil1382
contrive1393
to find outc1405
resolvea1438
absolvea1525
solute?1531
solve?1541
dissolve1549
get1559
salvec1571
to beat out1577
sort1581
explicate1582
untiea1586
loose1596
unsolve1631
cracka1640
unscruple1647
metagrobolize1653
to puzzle out1717
to work out1719
to get around ——1803
to dope out1906
lick1946
to get out1951
1717 Censor III. 207 'Till the good Man has puzzled out the Reverse of a half worn-out Medal, or settled the Succession of the Ægyptian Kings.
1781 W. Cowper Charity 473 While the clerk just puzzles out the psalm.
a1817 J. Austen Northanger Abbey (1818) I. xiv. 266 Come, shall I make you understand each other, or leave you to puzzle out an explanation as you can? View more context for this quotation
1863 N. Hawthorne Our Old Home II. 52 The inscriptions..were not sufficiently legible to induce us to puzzle them out.
1889 Cent. Mag. 38 190 The bloodhound..can puzzle out a cold scent under the most adverse conditions.
1904 H. James Golden Bowl I. xv. 277 The mysteries and expectations and assumptions still contain an immense element that I've failed to puzzle out.
1951 PMLA 66 63 Simple literacy, the mere ability to puzzle out the meanings of the more common written words, is..not enough. To be fully literate, an individual must grasp meaning easily.
2001 N.Y. Times 25 Nov. iv. 4/4 Who is a cynic and who is a true believer, are matters that the reader must puzzle out for himself.
5. transitive. To apply oneself to (a question, subject, etc.); to exercise oneself with (a problem).
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > doing > activity or occupation > occupy or busy oneself [verb (reflexive)] > devote or apply oneself
choosea1300
yield?a1366
givea1400
employ1439
applyc1450
poura1500
intend?1504
delivera1533
addict1534
bequeath1558
bend1591
devotea1616
devow1626
surrendera1732
puzzle1751
1751 Rhapsody Free Thougths 75 A recent Writer has indeed puzzled the Question regarding the..Decay of propagating Vigor in the Antediluvians.
1787 R. Burns Let. 2 Aug. (2001) I. 136 I..used..to puzzle Calvinism with so much heat and indiscretion that I raised a hue and cry of heresy against me.
a1811 R. Cumberland False Demetrius (1813) ii. 365 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.
1973 M. Montgomery Refl. Journey toward Order i. 19 He puzzled the decline of a society through a span of centuries, the decline of the individual mind.
2000 D. Doyle Inside Espionage 202 While I was puzzling this problem.
Compounds
ΚΠ
1767 T. Nugent New Pocket Dict. French & Eng. i. s.v. Casse-tête, puzzle brain, heady wine.
1796 ‘P. Puzzlewell’ Choice Coll. Riddles, Charades, Rebusses iii. 88 My whole of the dress is a part; But whether the beaus or the belles wear it here, Must be left to the puzzle-brain art.
1870 W. Thornbury Tour Eng. I. v. 108 After all these puzzle-brain theories, the result is..no great enlargement of knowledge.
1874 J. S. Blackie On Self-culture 60 They are mostly crotchet-mongers and puzzle-brains.
ΚΠ
1774 J. Wood Ess. Fund. Doctr. Nat. & Revealed Relig. iii. 35 That Plato and Tully..did not believe a future State of Reward and Punishment, appears to me to be a Puzzle-cap of Truth, or Labyrinth of Error.
1889 F. E. Gretton Memory's Harkback 231 Another puzzle-cap to me with regard to the hunting-field.
1889 F. E. Gretton Memory's Harkback 275 This entirely put the puzzle-cap upon him as to my actual whereabouts.
puzzle-monkey n. now rare the monkey-puzzle tree, Araucaria araucana.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > conifers > [noun] > monkey-puzzle
araucaria1834
Chile pine1852
araucarian1854
monkey-puzzle1856
puzzle-monkey1863
monkey-puzzler1876
1863 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Nov. 577/1 One may abstain from touching the ‘puzzle-monkey’ trees which infest life's path.
1885 Pall Mall Gaz. 11 Mar. 11/1 To see and paint the old forests of Araucaria imbricata, known in England as the puzzle-monkey tree, rather unreasonably, as there are no monkeys here to puzzle.
1934 Times 5 Jan. 17/3 He had sometimes been afraid that they would have admired a puzzle-monkey more than a beech.
ΚΠ
1707 W. Wagstaffe Crispin Cobler's Confut. Ben H—dly (ed. 2) 6 I always hated Tub-preaching, and thought a Church of England Cobler a better Fellow than a Conventicle Puzzle-Text.
1837 Gambler's Dream I. 269 The petticoat puzzletext curtsied to her young master and retired.
puzzlewit adj. and n. (a) adj. that puzzles or would puzzle one's wit; (b) n. one who is puzzled, a stupid or silly person.
ΚΠ
1861 G. J. Whyte-Melville Market Harborough xviii What is called a ‘monogram’—a thing not unlike the puzzle-wit lock on a gate.
1946 Mississippi Valley Hist. Rev. 33 328 A conglomerate of balmy idealists, hero worshipers..egoists, puzzlewits.
1993 Gettysburg (Pa.) Times 15 Apr. 7A (in cartoon) You're a puzzlewit and a dimbulb.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2007; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.1599v.c1595