rebus
noun
a representation of a word or phrase by pictures, symbols, etc., that suggest that word or phrase or its syllables.
rebuses
-
pluralof rebus.plural
The grammatical form denoting more than one person, place, thing, or idea.
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.
I grew up doing crosswords, riddles and rebuses.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2025
Photograph: Universal Images Group/Getty Images In essence, Griffiths had to crack an elaborate Tudor code of rebuses, ciphers, heraldic motifs and symbolic flowers to discover who the man was.
From The Guardian ● May 19, 2015
More complex rebuses are pictures whose elements, correctly named and put together, make up words or sentences.
From Time Magazine Archive
One of the most singular rebuses I have seen occurs in a window in the chapel at Lullingstone, co.
From The Curiosities of Heraldry by Mark Antony Lower
And the greatest pages of his autobiography, written with his brush, will be only so many childish rebuses if we forget what astounding pages of History and Argument were turned before him.
From Holbein by Beatrice Fortescue
