jigsaw puzzle

jigsaw

jig·saw [jigsaw jigsaws]   [ˈdʒɪɡsɔː]    [ˈdʒɪɡsɔː]  noun

1. (also ˈjigsaw puzzle) (also puz·zle especially in NAmE) a picture printed on cardboard or wood, that has been cut up into a lot of small pieces of different shapes that you have to fit together again

• to do a jigsaw

2. a mysterious situation in which it is not easy to understand all the causes of what is happening; a complicated problem

• If Hollis was a double agent then the Crabb affair fits neatly into the jigsaw.

3. a saw (= a type of tool) with a fine blade for cutting designs in thin pieces of wood or metal
See also: puzzle  
Word Origin:
late 19th cent.: from the verb jig  + the noun saw.  
Example Bank:
• One piece of the jigsaw is still missing.
• The police managed to piece together the jigsaw and reconstruct the victim's last hours.

• This is another piece in the jigsaw that will help us understand the biology of cancer.