A jigsaw or jigsaw puzzle is a picture on cardboard or wood that has been cut up into odd shapes. You have to make the picture again by putting the pieces together correctly.
2. countable noun [usually singular]
You can describe a complicated situation as a jigsaw.
...the jigsaw of high-level diplomacy.
jigsaw in British English
(ˈdʒɪɡˌsɔː)
noun
1.
a mechanical saw with a fine steel blade for cutting intricate curves in sheets of material
2. jigsaw puzzle
Word origin
C19: from jig (to jerk up and down rapidly) + saw1
jigsaw in American English
(ˈdʒɪgˌsɔ)
US
noun
1.
an electric saw with a narrow blade set in a frame, that moves with an up-and-down motion for cutting curves or ornamental patterns
: also jig saw
verb transitive
2.
to cut or form with a jigsaw
Word origin
jig1, v. + saw1
Examples of 'jigsaw' in a sentence
jigsaw
Now they can hopefully put the jigsaw back together.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
These new discoveries fill a critical hole in the jigsaw puzzle of civilisation.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Ownership of the land on which the tents sit is a complex jigsaw.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
Now researchers have pieced together the crumpled jigsaw of our lousy litter habits.
The Sun (2010)
No one put the jigsaw pieces together.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
The reality is that childcare is mainly a jigsaw puzzle.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
Everyone is trying to build their story like a jigsaw puzzle.
The Sun (2012)
But look down into them a few feet and a giant white jigsaw puzzle of bones emerges.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Apparently she thinks it would be better if we simply commended them for completing a jigsaw puzzle.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
It is a giant jigsaw puzzle.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Yet somehow the jagged edges of this non-League jigsaw fitted together.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
We're constantly putting a jigsaw puzzle together.
Christianity Today (2000)
They fit together like a jigsaw puzzle, no one piece like the other.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
After years of research, we have finally found the pieces we needed to put together the jigsaw.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
If the only thing they had to worry about was putting a jigsaw back together, they would probably be quite happy.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
This was the final crooked piece in Blunt's complex jigsaw.
Malcolm Balen A VERY ENGLISH DECEIT: The Secret History of the South Sea Bubble and the First GreatFinancial Scandal (2002)
When she's with the family, the jigsaw pieces fit together.
The Sun (2011)
She said the study was'like putting together a massive jigsaw '.
The Sun (2007)
Engineers, robots and cranes have lowered into place the final piece of a giant jigsaw that could help China to confirm the existence of alien life.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
In other languages
jigsaw
British English: jigsaw /ˈdʒɪɡˌsɔː/ NOUN
A jigsaw or jigsaw puzzle is a picture on cardboard or wood that has been cut up into odd shapes and which has to be put back together again.