puzzle over
phrasal verb
puzzled over; puzzling over; puzzles over
: to think or worry for a long time about (something)
He's been puzzling over what went wrong.
Examples of puzzle over in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Raeleah Heusner, a sophomore, puzzles over a small copy of Abraham Lincoln's speeches.
—
Cory Turner, NPR, 10 Oct. 2025
Astronomers have long puzzled over the apparent lack of luminous red supergiant stars in pre-explosion images, even though models predict that these stars should dominate the population of core-collapse supernova progenitors.
—Sharmila Kuthunur, Space.com, 8 Oct. 2025
For years, investigators puzzled over how the couple and their children could vanish entirely.
—Mason Leath, ABC News, 3 Oct. 2025
At four remote sites near Saudi Arabia’s Nefud Desert, researchers are puzzling over 130 life-sized animal images emblazoned on rocky outcrops.
—Martin J. Kernan, Scientific American, 30 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for puzzle over
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Cory Turner, NPR, 10 Oct. 2025
Astronomers have long puzzled over the apparent lack of luminous red supergiant stars in pre-explosion images, even though models predict that these stars should dominate the population of core-collapse supernova progenitors.
—Sharmila Kuthunur, Space.com, 8 Oct. 2025
For years, investigators puzzled over how the couple and their children could vanish entirely.
—Mason Leath, ABC News, 3 Oct. 2025
At four remote sites near Saudi Arabia’s Nefud Desert, researchers are puzzling over 130 life-sized animal images emblazoned on rocky outcrops.
—Martin J. Kernan, Scientific American, 30 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for puzzle over
Cite this Entry
“Puzzle over.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/puzzle%20over. Accessed 22 Oct. 2025.
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