twenty questions

American  

noun

(used with a singular verb)

1. an oral game in which one player selects a word or object whose identity the other players attempt to guess by asking up to twenty questions that can be answered with a yes or a no.

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Example Sentences

On one occasion when I managed to find the courage to ask a question, he chuckled and asked, "What is it, Twenty Questions?" –my new nickname—as if I were asking too much.

From Salon

The answers to all twenty questions.

From Literature

Sebastian asking twenty questions about what we’re doing and why we didn’t just go after softball practice since “the place is so close”; Scoob sitting in the passenger seat constantly peeking over his shoulder at me; Khyler and Hennessey double-, triple-, and quadruple-checking to make sure the bot is “in working order”; and Britt-Marie holding my hand—which for some reason is making my heart beat faster, just like it does when Scoob looks at me.

From Literature

Physicist John Wheeler compared science to the surprise version of Twenty Questions.

From Scientific American

All kinds of games: Twenty Questions, I Spy, matching games, memory games, and as much hide and seek as a three-room apartment allows.

From New York Times