jigsaw puzzle

[ jig-saw puhz-uhl ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

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

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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First recorded in 1905–10

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The current reference genome was made by fitting together small strings of DNA like thousands of tiny jigsaw puzzle pieces.

A curve sits inside its Jacobian the way a piece sits inside a jigsaw puzzle.

Sharing jigsaw puzzles does require some ability to withstand disappointment.

Like everything in this newly uncertain world, puzzle enthusiasts have to be willing to let their jigsaw puzzles go.

A series of protrusions, called blades, fit together like jigsaw puzzle pieces to join the two sides.

When he looks at the neatly compiled jigsaw puzzle of his life, however, he feels empty, deeply dissatisfied.

Every scene fits together like a jigsaw puzzle piece by the end of the book, when the reader finally knows everything.

To be fair, Prince Charles is also brazenly cashing in, selling a jigsaw puzzle of William and Kate at his official store.

Close up, it was a tremendous jigsaw puzzle of blocks that weighed tons.

It looked like some sort of jigsaw puzzle that he was piecing together very carefully, very— what's the word?

"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.

Like a vast jigsaw puzzle in five dimensions, little clots and patches formed as the bits were snuggled into place here and there.

Like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, the whole picture suddenly fell into place.

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