Domino’s has been a popular toy for decades, and many kids enjoy lining them up in long curved or straight lines and then flicking one at a time to watch the entire line fall. But there’s much more to this fascinating game than just the simple act of playing with dominoes.
A Domino Effect is an idea or phenomenon that occurs when one event triggers a chain reaction in which other events occur in a predictable way. It can be seen in nature, such as when an earthquake causes an avalanche, or in human events, like the way that one person’s bad decision can affect all the people around him or her.
Lily Hevesh, a Domino Artisan, has built a career out of dominoes and creates elaborate sets for movies, TV shows, and even events for celebrities. She started by learning to set dominoes when she was 9 years old, and now her YouTube channel has more than 2 million subscribers. Her work has earned her the title of a “domino expert,” and she has also been featured in numerous television shows and films.
A domino is a small rectangular block whose face is divided into two equal parts, each bearing an arrangement of dots resembling those on dice. It is typically marked on one side with a number of spots (pips) that indicates its value, and is blank or identically patterned on the other side. A typical set of dominoes contains 28 pieces. Besides being used in traditional games, the dominoes can be used to model patterns of growth and decay, and for educational purposes such as geometry and algebra.
The game of dominoes has several variations, involving different rules for combining the individual tiles to form chains or scoring points. Generally, a player must play a piece with a number that corresponds to the value of the other end of the same domino, and only when there are no remaining tiles in the opponents’ hands. This is sometimes called tying up the ends.
Dominoes are normally twice as long as they are wide, to make it easier for the players to re-stack them after each use. In addition to their playing function, the dominoes are often used as a decorative element in homes.
The word domino is derived from the Latin dominus, meaning “lord” or “master.” It is often used as a term of honor. It is also a gender-neutral name, and it has been used by many famous people. The meaning of the name has shifted over the years. It is now commonly associated with a company, but it can also refer to a person or thing that controls something else, such as an organization, a network, or a system. These examples are automatically compiled from various online sources to show how the word domino is used today. As with all of our example sentences, the opinions do not reflect the views of Merriam-Webster or its editors.