Word
sudoku
Phoneticssu·doku
/suˈdoʊku/
Definition
n. a popular logic puzzle where you fill a grid with numbers. You must place the numbers 1 to 9 so that each one appears only once in every row, column, and small square.
n. a logic-based, combinatorial number-placement puzzle. The objective is to fill a 9×9 grid with digits so that each column, each row, and each of the nine 3×3 subgrids contains all of the digits from 1 to 9.
Examples
“I like to solve a sudoku puzzle while I drink my morning coffee.”
“The newspaper publishes a new sudoku every morning, ranging in difficulty from easy to expert.”
“While many people assume sudoku requires advanced math skills, it is actually a game of pure logic and pattern recognition that relies on the process of elimination.”
Examples
simple
“I like to solve a sudoku puzzle while I drink my morning coffee.”
contextual
“The newspaper publishes a new sudoku every morning, ranging in difficulty from easy to expert.”
complex
“While many people assume sudoku requires advanced math skills, it is actually a game of pure logic and pattern recognition that relies on the process of elimination.”
Usage
Typically countable when referring to a specific puzzle; uncountable when referring to the game itself.
Real-World Examples
“Sudoku is like any other logic puzzle, in that it relies on deductive reasoning for its solution.” “Like all Sudoku, the digits from 1 to 9 must appear in all rows, columns and boxes.” “The annual championship event comprises two days of Sudoku, followed by three days of other types of pencil-and-paper logic puzzles.” Etymology
Borrowed from Japanese 数独 (sūdoku), a clipped compound of 数字 (sūji, "number") and 独身 (dokushin, "single, unmarried") — the latter reinterpreted through the phrase 独身に限る (dokushin ni kagiru, "limited to single"), yielding a name that puns on "single number" for the puzzle's constraint of digits appearing once per row, column, and subgrid. The Japanese term was coined in 1984 by puzzle publisher Nikoli; English adoption followed swiftly.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Domains
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/sudoku