mazemaze /meɪz/ ●○○ noun [countable] 
a complicated and confusing arrangement of streets, roads etcmaze of streets/paths/tunnels etc
the maze of narrow streets I was led through a maze of corridors.2a large number of rules, instructions etc which are complicated and difficult to understandmaze of rules/regulations etc a maze of new laws3a specially designed system of paths, often in a park or public garden, which is difficult to find your way through: We got completely lost in the maze. the famous Hampton Court maze4a children’s game, played on paper, in which you try to draw a line through a complicated group of lines without crossing any of them
WORD ORIGINmaze
Origin:
1200-1300 maze ‘to confuse’ (13-19 centuries), probably from unrecorded Old English masianEXAMPLES FROM THE CORPUS
- Its importance in enabling people to use lawyers to guide them through the baffling maze of legal rules is self-evident.
- Players search for the princess by uncovering clues, solving puzzles and navigating a medieval maze.
- Street selling has always centered in the downtown historic district, a maze of narrow streets and crumbling colonial buildings.
- The answer probably lies in the complex maze of hype, distribution and luck which makes up today's rock biz.
- They had pursued it through the maze of backstreets until unaccountably losing it in a cul-de-sac.
- Tolman placed three groups of rats in a maze.
- We went on a tour of the ancient manuscripts, the antique mazes.
- You must learn to find your way through the menu maze before you can use the program efficiently.
Longman Language Activatora place where it is easy to get lost
a place where it is very easy to become lost, because it has a large number of paths, passages, or narrow streets that cross each other: maze/labyrinth of: · The old town is a labyrinth of narrow streets, with shops selling everything you could imagine.· The complex is a maze of car-ramps and driveways with signs pointing in all directions.
WORD SETSbar billiards, nounbeanbag, nounbilliards, nounblind man's buff, nounchicken, nouncrazy golf, nouncrossword, nouncue, nouncue ball, nouncushion, noundoll's house, noundomino, noundouble-Dutch, noundressing-up, nounducks and drakes, nounflag football, nounframe, nounhide-and-seek, nounkeep-away, nounkickball, nounkite-flying, nounleapfrog, nounmarble, nounmaze, nounmusical chairs, nounninepins, nounnoughts and crosses, nounpaper chase, nounparlour game, nounpeekaboo, interjectionplay, verbpocket, verbpool, nounpool hall, nounpot, verbpuzzle, nounsack race, nounskip, verbskipping rope, nounskittle, nounsnowball, nounsnowman, nounYo-Yo, nounzap, verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY the maze of narrow streets I was led through a maze of corridors. a maze of new lawsCOLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
1 the maze of narrow streets I was led through a maze of corridors. a maze of new laws (=many passages, in which it is easy to get lost)· We wandered through a maze of passages.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSVERB· Now they are on the dole with no compensation, or redundancy and their pensions have been lost in the Maxwell maze.· The piste disappeared and I stood lost in a maze of tyre-tracks, which shot in every direction.· When lost deep in a maze, whistle bravely.· Imagine that you are lost in a maze.
a complicated and confusing arrangement of streets, roads etcmaze of streets/paths/tunnels etc the maze of narrow streets I was led through a maze of corridors.2a large number of rules, instructions etc which are complicated and difficult to understandmaze of rules/regulations etc a maze of new laws3a specially designed system of paths, often in a park or public garden, which is difficult to find your way through: We got completely lost in the maze. the famous Hampton Court maze4a children’s game, played on paper, in which you try to draw a line through a complicated group of lines without crossing any of them