1 [usu.sing] something that is difficult to understand or explain; a mystery 难题;谜;令人困惑的事:
The reasons for his actions have remained a puzzle to historians.他为什么采取这些行动,历史学家对此一直大惑不解。
2 a game or toy that makes you think a lot 让人动脑筋的游戏或玩具:
a crossword/jigsaw puzzle纵横字谜;拼图游戏I like to do puzzles.我喜欢猜谜。☞picture at sport 见sport插图
puzzle²
/ˈpʌzl ||; ˈpʌzḷ/verb
1 [T] to make sb feel confused because he/she does not understand sth 使大惑不解或困惑:
Her strange illness puzzled all the experts.她的怪病令所有专家感到困惑。
2 [I] puzzle over sth to think hard about sth in order to understand or explain it 苦思,深思(以求明白或解释某事物):
to puzzle over a mathematical problem苦思一道数学题
puzzle sth out to find the answer to sth by thinking hard 苦思后找到某事物的答案:
The letter was in Italian and it took us an hour to puzzle out what it said.那封信是用意大利文写的,我们琢磨了一个小时才知道它说些什么。