puzzle

Definition

  • noun: a question or problem that requires thought, skill, or cleverness to be answered or solved
  • verb: to offer or represent to (as a person) a problem difficult to solve or a situation difficult to resolve
  • often used figuratively
  • synonyms: perplexity, embarrass, confound

Examples

  • The restaurant is trying to attract more customers, and the new menu is an important 'piece of the puzzle'. [=an important part of what is being done]

  • Ecologists no longer view different species as independent, but instead see them as pieces of the same 'jigsaw puzzle'.

  • His strange behavior is a 'puzzle' to his friends. [=his friends don't understand the reason for his strange behavior]

Movie clips

Movie quotes

  • (..) Salvatore, my love. A whole summer with my family, far from you, my days here go on forever. l see your name everywhere in a book, a crossword puzzle... a newspaper. You're always before my eyes. Today, alas, l have bad news. ln October we move to Palermo, where l'll go to university. (..)
    1988 Cinema Paradiso