a game that tests your ingenuity
"My nephew spent an hour trying to solve the wooden puzzle before finally figuring out how all the pieces fit together."
Anything that is difficult to understand or make sense of.
"The tangled wires behind the wall were a complete puzzle, and I couldn't figure out which one connected to the light switch."
In plain English: A puzzle is a game or problem that you have to solve by putting together pieces or figuring out a tricky pattern.
"The missing piece of the puzzle made him wonder how the picture would ever come together."
be uncertain about; think about without fully understanding or being able to decide
"We puzzled over her sudden departure"
To perplex, confuse, or mystify; to cause (someone) to be faced with a mystery, without answers or an explanation.
"The sudden disappearance of his keys left everyone puzzled about where he had gone."
In plain English: To puzzle means to be confused or unable to figure something out.
"The strange noise puzzled me until I found the loose screw."
Usage: Use the verb puzzle when you want to say that something causes confusion or makes it difficult to understand how things work. It is often followed by "over" (e.g., puzzled over a problem) rather than taking a direct object like some other verbs of thinking do.
The word puzzle comes from an uncertain origin but is likely related to Scots words meaning to poke around aimlessly or search with uncertainty. It entered English as a verb describing this kind of indecisive activity before later taking on its current sense of being difficult to solve.