word square
1
6.4
- noun
- /wɜrd skwɛr/
:
cuadrado de palabras
- Each row in a word square must spell a valid word.
- a double-word square
- word square contains
Examples
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The teacher assigned a fun task to the students: create a word square using four-letter words for homework.
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He completed the word square in under five minutes.
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The puzzle magazine featured a challenging word square on its back cover.
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I created a word square for my students.
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Do you want to try a word square today?
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In this puzzle, you fill in the word square so that the same words appear across and down.
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They presented a challenging word square that required both creativity and vocabulary skills to solve.
How Hard
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound 'word square' is directly and compositionally derived from 'word' (linguistic units) + 'square' (a four-sided shape), so a learner who knows both constituents will infer it refers to a square made up of words. Although the precise puzzle constraint (rows and columns matching) is a technical detail a B1 learner might not predict fully, the overall concept of a square composed of words is immediately comprehensible and follows normal noun-noun compounding patterns.
Etymology
Word square comes from the image of words written in a square box: each word reads the same across and down. That's why it means a puzzle where the lines across and the lines down contain the same words.