teaser

The nearly impossible puzzle your math teacher gives for extra credit can be called a teaser — a tricky problem to solve.

A mystifying problem is one kind of teaser — another is a person who loves to tease. Your nose-grabbing, practical joking uncle is a teaser, especially if he enjoys gently mocking or making fun of you. Yet another teaser is the kind that opens a TV show — sort of a sneak preview of the story to come. This is closest to the original meaning of teaser, from 1934, "an introductory advertisement or sample."

Definitions of teaser
  1. noun
    an advertisement that offers something free in order to arouse customers' interest
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    type of:
    ad, advert, advertisement, advertising, advertizement, advertizing
    a public promotion of some product or service
  2. noun
    an attention-getting opening presented at the start of a television show
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    type of:
    opening
    the initial part of the introduction
  3. noun
    someone given to teasing (as by mocking or stirring curiosity)
    synonyms: annoyer, tease, vexer
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    type of:
    persona non grata, unwelcome person
    a person who for some reason is not wanted or welcome
  4. noun
    a particularly baffling problem that is said to have a correct solution
    synonyms: mystifier, puzzle, puzzler
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    types:
    sudoku
    a number puzzle in which the numbers 1 through 9 must be placed into a grid of cells so that each row or column contains only one of each number
    acrostic, word square
    a puzzle where you fill a square grid with words reading the same down as across
    type of:
    problem
    a question raised for consideration or solution
  5. noun
    a worker who teases wool
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    type of:
    worker
    a person who works at a specific occupation
  6. noun
    a device for teasing wool
    “a teaser is used to disentangle the fibers”
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    type of:
    device
    an instrumentality invented for a particular purpose
  7. noun
    a flat at each side of the stage to prevent the audience from seeing into the wings
    synonyms: tormenter, tormentor
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    type of:
    flat
    scenery consisting of a wooden frame covered with painted canvas; part of a stage setting
Word Family