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crossword puzzle

noun

a puzzle in which words corresponding to numbered clues or definitions are supplied and fitted into correspondingly numbered sets of squares, one letter per square, the words being arranged horizontally or vertically so that most letters form part of two words.

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Nearby words

  1. crossways,
  2. crosswind,
  3. crosswise,
  4. crossword,
  5. crossword dictionary,
  6. crosswort,
  7. crostini,
  8. crotal,
  9. crotalin,
  10. crotch

Origin of crossword puzzle

1910–15; cross- + word, allegedly for earlier word cross
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
British Dictionary definitions for crossword puzzle

crossword puzzle

noun

a puzzle in which the solver deduces words suggested by numbered clues and writes them into corresponding boxes in a grid to form a vertical and horizontal patternSometimes shortened to: crossword
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for crossword puzzle

crossword puzzle

January 1914, from cross (adj.) + word + puzzle. The first one ran in the "New York World" newspaper Dec. 21, 1913, but was called word-cross.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper