crossword

[kraws-wurd, kros-]

noun

a crossword puzzle.

Origin of crossword

First recorded in 1910–15

crossword dictionary

noun

a dictionary that lists common clues found in crossword puzzles with potential answer words. In books, the lists are usually sorted by the number of letters in the answer, while an online crossword dictionary, such as the Dictionary.com Crossword Solver, is able to analyze queries electronically, examining either the clue or the number and pattern of letters already filled in to arrive at suggested answers.

Also called crossword puzzle dictionary.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for crossword

Contemporary Examples of crossword

She struggled to concentrate on crossword puzzles and read books, so she just watched television.
Jeopardy! Champion Julia Collins’s Brain Feels Like Mush
Sujay Kumar
November 20, 2014
Merl Reagle, otherwise known as “King of the Crossword,” knows exactly how you feel.
The Crossword Puzzle Turns 100: The ‘King of Crossword’ on Its Strange History
Kevin Fallon
December 21, 2013
It even threatens such veteran horizontally integrated favorites as Scrabble, solitaire, and the crossword puzzle.
Sorry, Folks, Playing Dots Won’t Make You Smarter
Kent Sepkowitz
June 20, 2013
Office workers sit in the park eating pasta salad with a disposable fork, with half an eye on the crossword.
The Strange Way We Eat: Bee Wilson’s ‘Consider the Fork’
Bee Wilson
October 13, 2012
Solve the crossword from the comfort of your own computer—or print it out and take it anywhere.
The Weekend Crossword: Getting the Ax
Matt Gaffney
September 17, 2009

Historical Examples of crossword

Automatic pencil poised, he was scanning the crossword puzzle intently.
Hooded Detective, Volume III No. 2, January, 1942
Various

Word Origin and History for crossword

n.

1925, short for crossword puzzle (q.v.).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper