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puzzler

 - 2 dictionary results

puz⋅zler

[puhz-ler]
–noun
1. a person who puzzles.
2. a baffling thing or problem.
3. a person who is occupied or amused by solving puzzles.

Origin:
1645–55; puzzle + -er 1
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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puz·zle   (pŭz'əl)   
v.   puz·zled, puz·zling, puz·zles

v.   tr.
  1. To baffle or confuse mentally by presenting or being a difficult problem or matter.

  2. To clarify or solve (something confusing) by reasoning or study: He puzzled out the significance of the statement.

v.   intr.
  1. To be perplexed.

  2. To ponder over a problem in an effort to solve or understand it.

n.  
  1. Something, such as a game, toy, or problem, that requires ingenuity and often persistence in solving or assembling.

  2. Something that baffles or confuses.

  3. The condition of being perplexed; bewilderment.


[Origin unknown.]
puz'zler n.
Synonyms: These verbs mean to cause bafflement or confusion. Puzzle suggests difficulty in solving or interpreting something: "The poor creature puzzled me once . . . by a question merely natural and innocent" (Daniel Defoe).
Perplex stresses uncertainty or anxiety, as over reaching an understanding or finding a solution: a dilemma that perplexed the committee.
Mystify implies defying comprehension by obscuring facts: symbolism that mystifies me.
Bewilder emphasizes extreme mental confusion: "The old know what they want; the young are sad and bewildered" (Logan Pearsall Smith).
To confound is to confuse and astonish: God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise (I Corinthians 1:27).
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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