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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
puzzle \puz"zle\, verb (used with an object) [imp. & p. p. {puzzled} (p[u^]z"z'ld); p. pr. & vb. n. {puzzling} (p[u^]z"zl[i^]ng).]
1. To perplex; to confuse; to embarrass; to put to a stand; to nonplus.
A very shrewd disputant in those points is dexterous in puzzling others. --Dr. H. More.
He is perpetually puzzled and perplexed amidst his own blunders. --Addison.
2. To make intricate; to entangle.
They disentangle from the puzzled skein. --Cowper.
The ways of Heaven are dark and intricate, Puzzled in mazes, and perplexed with error. --Addison.
3. To solve by ingenuity, as a puzzle; -- followed by out; as, to puzzle out a mystery.
Syn: To embarrass; perplex; confuse; bewilder; confound. See {Embarrass}.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
puzzling
adjective
1: not clear to the understanding; "I didn't grasp the meaning of that enigmatic comment until much later"; "prophetic texts so enigmatic that their meaning has been disputed for centuries" [syn: {enigmatic}, {enigmatical}]
2: lacking clarity of meaning; causing confusion or perplexity; "sent confusing signals to Iraq"; "perplexing to someone who knew nothing about it"; "a puzzling statement" [syn: {confusing}, {perplexing}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
83 Moby Thesaurus words for "puzzling": able, abstruse, ambiguous, baffling, beguiling, bewildering, bothering, confounding, confusing, contradictory, cryptic, discomposing, disconcerting, dismaying, distracting, disturbing, embarrassing, enigmatic, enigmatical, exceptional, extraordinary, fabulous, fantastic, fascinating, incalculable, incognizable, incomprehensible, inconceivable, incredible, intricate, marvelous, miraculous, mysterious, mystifying, outlandish, passing strange, perplexing, perturbing, phenomenal, problematic, prodigious, rare, remarkable, riddling, sealed, sensational, sphinxlike, strange, striking, stupendous, unapparent, unapprehended, unascertained, unbeknown, uncharted, unclassified, undisclosed, undiscoverable, undiscovered, undivulged, unexplained, unexplored, unexposed, unfamiliar, unfathomed, unheard, unheard-of, unidentified, unimaginable, uninvestigated, unique, unknowable, unknown, unperceived, unplumbed, unprecedented, unrevealed, unsuspected, untouched, upsetting, virgin, wonderful, wondrous
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