jigsaw puzzle

American  

[jig-saw puhz-uhl] / ˈdʒɪgˌsɔ ˌpʌz əl /

noun

1. Also called picture puzzle.  a set of irregularly cut pieces of pasteboard, wood, or the like that form a picture or design when fitted together.

2. any complex, confusing situation, condition, or item, as one composed of seemingly diverse or unrelated elements.

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jigsaw puzzle British  

noun

1. a puzzle in which the player has to reassemble a picture that has been mounted on a wooden or cardboard base and cut into a large number of irregularly shaped interlocking pieces

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Etymology

Origin of jigsaw puzzle

First recorded in 1905–10

Example Sentences

It's a giant and complicated jigsaw puzzle of 130 separate track panels - not something that can be done when trains are roaring up and down.

From BBC

"We're not long-term puzzlers, but somehow a jigsaw puzzle was on the end of the dining table in the family house last Christmas," she explained.

From BBC

The full-body suit was made up of about 26 overlapping prosthetic pieces that fit together like a jigsaw puzzle.

From Los Angeles Times

To solve what amounted to one of history’s greatest jigsaw puzzles, the INA put together a team of Turkish and American archaeology students and put them to work.

From Literature

The diffuse structure of nonlinear novels engaged readers in a new and unexpected way, inviting them to piece together scattered episodes in the manner of a jigsaw puzzle.

From The Wall Street Journal