好词典

puzzle

UK //ˈpʌz.əl//US //ˈpʌz.əl//

词源

源自16世纪晚期,可能来自中古英语poselen(使困惑),与中古荷兰语peutelen(困惑)有关。

noun

❶ 指一种需要动脑筋解决的难题或游戏,如拼图、谜语等,通常用于娱乐或智力挑战。

“She spent the afternoon working on a 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle.”

(她花了一下午时间拼一幅1000片的拼图。)

“The crossword puzzle in today's newspaper is quite challenging.”

(今天报纸上的填字游戏相当有难度。)

❶ 形容令人困惑或难以理解的事物或情况,需要仔细思考才能明白。

“His sudden disappearance remains a puzzle to everyone.”

(他的突然失踪对所有人来说仍是个谜。)

“The scientist tried to solve the puzzle of how the ancient structure was built.”

(科学家试图解开这座古代建筑如何建成的谜团。)

同义词:riddle, mystery, enigma, brainteaser, conundrum

verb

❶ 使某人感到困惑或难以理解,通常因为事情复杂或不明确。

“The strange noise puzzled the neighbors all night.”

(奇怪的声响让邻居们整晚都感到困惑。)

“Her reaction puzzled me because it was completely unexpected.”

(她的反应让我困惑,因为这完全出乎意料。)

同义词:confuse, bewilder, perplex, baffle, mystify

常见短语

puzzle out — 通过仔细思考或分析来理解或解决某个难题。

“It took me hours to puzzle out the meaning of this ancient text.”

(我花了几个小时才琢磨出这段古文字的含义。)

puzzle over — 长时间思考某个问题或难题,试图找到答案或理解它。

“The researchers puzzled over the unexpected results for weeks.”

(研究人员对这些意外结果苦思冥想了数周。)