jigsaw

[ jig-saw ]

/ ˈdʒɪgˌsɔ /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR jigsaw ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

Also jig saw. an electric machine saw with a narrow blade mounted vertically in a frame, for cutting curves or other difficult lines or patterns.

verb (used with object), jig·sawed, jig·sawed or jig·sawn, jig·saw·ing.

to cut or form with a jigsaw.

adjective

formed by or as if by a jigsaw: jigsaw ornamentation.

Nearby words

Origin of jigsaw

First recorded in 1870–75; jig² + saw¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for jigsaw

Every scene fits together like a jigsaw puzzle piece by the end of the book, when the reader finally knows everything.
Real Thrills And High Art In A Poignant Page-Turner Of A Novel|Susan Cheever|May 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
All of which connect together like a jigsaw as the story progresses.
Sebastian Barry’s Quarrel With Irish History|J.P. O’Malley|May 7, 2014|DAILY BEAST
For Cusk, it is “a jigsaw dismantled into a heap of broken-edged pieces.”
If You Read This Book, You Will Not Get Married|Melissa Holbrook Pierson|August 11, 2012|DAILY BEAST
And when things go wrong there is a great problem of putting together the jigsaw of who said what, and what was agreed.
Oligarch v. Oligarch: London's Courts Attract Litigious Tycoons|Mike Giglio|July 23, 2012|DAILY BEAST

To be fair, Prince Charles is also brazenly cashing in, selling a jigsaw puzzle of William and Kate at his official store.
Meet Kate Middleton's Parents, Carole and Michael|Harry Cole|March 24, 2011|DAILY BEAST
"He'll be glad to know I'm not showing it about, or brooding over it like a bit of a jigsaw puzzle," I thought.
The Lightning Conductor Discovers America|C. N. (Charles Norris) Williamson and A. M. (Alice Muriel) Williamson
Through a cloud of pipe smoke, Drake was placing more pieces into the jigsaw of Sylvia Fanton's life.
Queen of the Flaming Diamond|Leroy Yerxa
That's what delights Jack, picking up these links, and fitting them together like bits of jigsaw puzzles.
The Lightning Conductor Discovers America|C. N. (Charles Norris) Williamson and A. M. (Alice Muriel) Williamson
If convenient to a mill equipped with jigsaw and moulder they can be made up after your own patterns.
Home Taxidermy for Pleasure and Profit|Albert B. Farnham
Like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, the whole picture suddenly fell into place.
Tom Swift and the Electronic Hydrolung|Victor Appleton

British Dictionary definitions for jigsaw

jigsaw

/ (ˈdʒɪɡˌsɔː) /

noun

a mechanical saw with a fine steel blade for cutting intricate curves in sheets of material

See jigsaw puzzle

Word Origin for jigsaw

C19: from jig (to jerk up and down rapidly) + saw 1

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 jigsaw

jigsaw

also jig-saw, "vertical reciprocating saw," 1855, American English, from jig with its notion of "rapid up-and-down motion" + saw (n.1). Jigsaw puzzle first recorded 1906; originally one with pieces cut by a jigsaw.

jigsaw

noun

verb (used with object), jig·sawed, jig·sawed or jig·sawn, jig·saw·ing.

adjective

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of jigsaw

Examples from the Web for jigsaw

jigsaw

noun

Word Origin for jigsaw

jigsaw