Rebus game definition

Latin, by things, ablative plural of res thing — more at real. See more words from the same year. Accessed 14 Jan. See the full definition for rebus in the English Language Learners Dictionary. Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Log in Sign Up. Save Word. Definition of rebus. Illustration of rebus. Rebus and a Lack of Words A rebus communicates its message by means of pictures or symbols whose names sound like various parts of a word, phrase, or sentence. Examples of rebus in a Sentence Recent Examples on the Web Written in bits and bobs over the last two years, the emoji Haggadah was redrafted with each update of the emoji keyboard, and reads like a book-length rebus.

First Known Use of rebus , in the meaning defined above. History and Etymology for rebus Latin, by things, ablative plural of res thing — more at real. Learn More About rebus. Today, rebuses provide those who enjoy wordplay, logic puzzles, and associative thinking games with challenging riddles to solve.

Rebuses can be found in ancient literature or can be inspired by popular literature. Here are a few examples of literary rebuses:. This rebus was part of America to her Mistaken Mother, a pictogram made in to comment on British and colonial American politics.

In this example, rebus was used for satire:. America toe her Miss taken Moth er. Rebuses can be found in pop culture as well, as ransom notes are written in code by TV criminals, musical album covers convey secret messages, and various companies make use of symbols in advertising and product placement. Here are a few examples of pop cultural rebuses:. In the movie Memento , a man with short-term memory loss uses cryptic tattoos to remember his past and his goals.

Egyptian hieroglyphics were used by ancient Egyptians to communicate. The language originated from artistic symbols on poetry. Hieroglyphics are an example of a language which emerged from rebuses. A symbol is an object or image which represents something else. Symbols and rebuses are related because rebuses consist of symbols including numbers, alphabetic letters, and images.

Rebuses are more than fun word games. They are the beginning of many modern-day languages and the beginning of written communication and recording.

They are mental exercises for a healthy mind. For more rebus puzzles, check out these rebus puzzles for kids that include printable worksheets. You can also bring rebus puzzles and stories to class with these classroom rebuses.

Staff Writer. All rights reserved. What Are Rebus Puzzles? Rebus Puzzle Examples One form of rebus puzzles uses pictures to spell out a complete message. Idiom Rebus Examples Other types of rebus puzzles use words and their positioning to reveal a popular phrase or idiom. Rebus Puzzle Challenge Can you figure out these tricky rebus puzzles?

Rebus Puzzle Challenge Answers How did you do? Check your answers for the above rebus puzzles here.