jigsaw puzzle

American

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

noun

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

jigsaw puzzle British

noun

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

"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

Etymology

Origin of jigsaw puzzle

First recorded in 1905–10

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

"This incident is more complex than a 10,000-piece jigsaw puzzle," Leung told AFP.

From Barron's • Dec. 2, 2025

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 • Nov. 14, 2025

An adviser can help you put all the pieces into one big jigsaw puzzle that is your life.

From MarketWatch • Oct. 10, 2025

He spent many months with the jumble of plaster, meticulously examining each piece to put together what he describes as "the world's most difficult jigsaw puzzle".

From BBC • Jun. 19, 2025

This was the type of case, not at all untypical in South Africa, that offered a moral jigsaw puzzle.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023