What does domino mean?
Word: Domino
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Domino means one of a set of small, flat, oblong blocks marked with dots, used to play a game. The game itself is called dominoes.
How do you spell domino?
Syllables: dom - i - no
Tricky part: One domino has no e at the end, but more than one are dominoes, with -es.
Watch out for: dominoe, dommino
Memory tip: Picture a single domino standing alone at the end of a row: nothing stands after its final o, not even an e.
Idioms and Phrases
- the domino effect: a situation in which one event causes a chain of other events, one after another Example: "Samuel woke up late, and the domino effect meant he missed the bus and then the start of assembly."
Domino in a sentence
Example 1: Grandpa taught us to play dominoes on the veranda during the summer holidays.
Example 2: Kenji placed a domino with five dots at the end of the row.
Example 3: My little sister counts the dots on each domino to practise her addition.
Fun Fact
In 2009 a team in the Netherlands set a world record by toppling more than four million dominoes in one event.
Practise the CREST Way
Spellacadabra
Choose the option in which the following letters will fit in the given order:
o, i, o
a) b__n__n__
b) d__m__n__
c) v__lc__n__
d) t__m__t__
Show answer
b) d__m__n__. O, i, o give domino; volcano and tomato need an a in the middle, and banana takes a in every gap.
Jumble Tumble
What is the meaning of the word that can be formed from the given letters?
nomido
a) a game piece that players join end to end by matching its spots
b) a large tent put up for a wedding or a fair
c) a soft song that is sung to help a baby fall asleep
d) a stand that holds a painting while an artist works on it
Show answer
a) a game piece that players join end to end by matching its spots. Nomido rearranges to domino; easel, lullaby and marquee belong to the other meanings.
Spell Spies
Choose the pair which has a spelling error:
a) potato : potatos
b) hero : heroes
c) piano : pianos
d) domino : dominoes
Show answer
a) potato : potatos. The plural of potato is potatoes, with an e before the s.
Word Tally
How many words are misspelt in the given sentence?
After lunch, my cousins laid out all their dominoes along the corridoor and sorted them by the number of dots.
a) 1
b) 3
c) 0
d) 2
Show answer
a) 1. Only corridor is wrong: its last syllable has a single o.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Why do people often stand dominoes on their narrow ends in a long row?
a) So that the pieces cannot get mixed up
b) So that one push knocks them all down in turn
c) So that the game takes less time to set up
d) So that their spots are easier to count
Show answer
b) So that one push knocks them all down in turn
2. Into how many equal parts does a line divide the face of a domino?
a) four
b) three
c) two
d) six
Show answer
c) two
