crossword

crossword

English

a crossword (1)

Etymology

cross +‎ word

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɹɒswɜː(ɹ)d/
• enPR: kros'-werd

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

crossword (plural crosswords)

1. (games, puzzles) A word puzzle in which interlocking words are entered usually horizontally and vertically into a grid based on clues given for each word.
2. (informal, by extension) The grid of such a puzzle
   • 1957, Drum: A magazine of Africa for Africa, page 72:

     HOW TO ENTER::Fill in the crossword and send it to CROSSWORD No.54, DRUM, 176 Main Street, Johannesburg

   • 1962, Juan Garcia Hortelano, Summer Storm, page 175:

     I sat on the bed and began to fill in the crossword.

   • 1967, Pigeon Racing News and Gazette - Volumes 23-24, page 27:

     All you have to do is fill in the crossword on this page and write your name and address on the coupon in Block Capitals (those written in longhand will not qualify).

   • 1979, Judith A. Gillespie, An Energy Curriculum for the Elementary Grades - Page 2-45, Indiana Dept. of Commerce Energy Group, page 2-45:

     They should be able to fill out the crossword using their knowledge from this chapter.

   • 2021, Sarah Everett, Some Other Now‎, page 218:

     “You said you wanted me to fill out the crossword for you!”

   • 2021, Sian Phillips, Private Faces and Public Places: The Autobiography‎:

     Flair, the butler, drank.[…]On weekdays when we were alone, he would open The Times and fill in the crossword, each clue no sooner read than solved. At weekends he merely read the crossword, then ironed the paper before giving it to Herbie.

Synonyms

• crossword puzzle

Derived terms

• crossworder
• crosswordese
• cryptic crossword
• two-speed crossword

Descendants

• → French: mots croisés (calque)
• → Greek: σταυρόλεξο (stavrólexo) (calque)
• → Russian: кроссворд (krossvord)

Translations

word puzzle

Afrikaans: blokkiesraaisel (af) Albanian: fjalëkryq (sq) m Arabic: كَلِمَات مُتَقَاطِعَة‎ (kalimāt mutaqāṭiʿa) Armenian: խաչբառ (hy) (xačʿbaṙ) Bashkir: кроссворд (krossvord) Belarusian: красво́рд m (krasvórd) Bulgarian: кръстословица f (krǎstoslovica) Catalan: mots encreuats (ca) m pl Cebuano: pulongbay Chinese: Mandarin: 填字遊戲／填字游戏 (tiánzì yóuxì), 縱橫字謎／纵横字谜 (zh) (zònghéng zìmí) Crimean Tatar: krossvord Czech: křížovka (cs) f Danish: krydsordsopgave (da), kryds-og-tværsopgave Dutch: kruiswoordraadsel (nl) n, kruiswoordpuzzel (nl) m Esperanto: krucvortenigmo (eo), krucvorto Faroese: krossorðagáta f Finnish: sanaristikko (fi), ristisana, ristisanatehtävä (fi) French: mots croisés (fr) m pl, grille de mots croisés (fr) f Georgian: კროსვორდი (ḳrosvordi) German: Kreuzworträtsel (de) n Greek: σταυρόλεξο (el) (stavrólexo) Hebrew: תשבץ‎ (he) m (tashbetz) Hungarian: keresztrejtvény (hu) Icelandic: krossgáta (is) f Indonesian: teka-teki silang (id) Irish: crosfhocal (ga) m Italian: cruciverba (it) m, parole crociate f pl Japanese: クロスワードパズル (kurosuwādo pazuru) Korean: 십자말 (sipjamal) Lithuanian: kryžiažodis Low German: Krüüzwoortradels n Luxembourgish: Kräizwuerträtsel n Macedonian: крстозбор m (krstozbor) Malay: silang kata Maltese: tisliba f Maori: panga kupu Norman: mots crouaîsis m pl (Jersey) Norwegian: kryssord (no) Persian: جدول‎ (fa) (jadval) Polish: krzyżówka (pl) f Portuguese: palavras cruzadas (pt) f pl Romanian: cuvinte încrucișate (ro) f pl Russian: кроссво́рд (ru) (krossvórd) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: крижаљка f Roman: križaljka (sh) f, ukrštenica f, krstoslovnica f Slovak: krížovka f Slovene: križanka (sl) Spanish: crucigrama (es) m, palabras cruzadas f Swedish: korsord (sv) n, kryss (sv) n Telugu: గళ్ళ నుడికట్టు (gaḷḷa nuḍikaṭṭu), పదబంధ ప్రహేళిక (padabandha prahēḷika) Turkish: kare bulmaca, çengel bulmaca, çapraz bulmaca Ukrainian: кросворд (krosvord) Welsh: croesair m

See also

• acrostic
• cruciverbalism
• cruciverbalist
• cryptic crossword
• game
• puzzle