puzzle: [16] The origin of puzzle is, appropriately, a puzzle. One suggestion is that it may be derived from the now obsolete verb pose ‘interrogate, perplex’ (which survives in poser ‘difficult question or problem’), a shortened form of appose ‘interrogate or question severely’. This came from Old French aposer, a variant of oposer, from which English gets oppose. Another possibility is some connection with the Old English verb puslian ‘pick out the best bits’, which is reminiscent of puzzle out ‘find or solve by laborious reasoning’ (although that sense of puzzle is not recorded until the end of the 18th century).
puzzle (v.)
1590s, pusle "bewilder, confound," possibly frequentative of pose (v.) in obsolete sense of "perplex" (compare nuzzle from nose). Related: Puzzled; puzzling.
puzzle (n.)
c. 1600, "state of being puzzled," from puzzle (v.); meaning "perplexing question" is from 1650s; that of "a toy contrived to test one's ingenuity" is from 1814.
双语例句
1. A rather neat option allows you to design your own fiendish puzzle.
只要干净利落地做一个选择，你就能自己设计出难以解开的谜题。
来自柯林斯例句
2. This process is akin to piecing together a jigsaw puzzle.
这个过程和拼图相似。
来自柯林斯例句
3. Her mother sighed and rubbed out another mistake in the crossword puzzle.
