English Explanatory Dictionary

crossword

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A word puzzle in which interlocking words are entered usually horizontally and vertically into a grid based on clues given for each word.
  2. The grid of such a puzzle.
  3. The words in an acrostic puzzle from which the letters are to be taken.
  4. A crossword enigma poem.

Pronunciation

/ˈkɹɒswɜː(ɹ)d/ kros'-werd en-us-crossword.ogg

Word forms

crossword crosswords

Etymology

From cross + word. Various word puzzles referred to as "crosswords" date back to the 1860s. The modern crossword puzzle was invented in 1913 by Arthur Wynne, who coined the name word-cross – crossword first appeared a few weeks later as a typographical error or deliberate transposition.

Synonyms

crossword puzzle

Related words

acrostic cruciverbalism cruciverbalist cryptic crossword game puzzle

Derived words

crossword enigma crossworder crosswordese crosswording crosswordlike crosswordy cryptic crossword two-speed crossword

Translations

French: mot-croisé French: grille de mots croisés
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
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