maze

Everyday

1. A maze is a puzzle made of paths or passages with walls or hedges, where you have to find the way through without getting lost. tree →
2. A maze is a puzzle drawn on paper where you trace a line from the start to the finish. tree →
3. A maze can be any confusing place or set of things: a maze of streets, a maze of rules. tree →
4. Mazed means dazed or confused, as if you have lost your way in a maze. tree →

In the lessons

In maths and computing lessons, mazes are used to practise directions (left, right, forward), giving instructions to robots and Bee-Bots, and solving problems step by step; a famous trick is to keep one hand on a wall. In stories mazes are mysterious places, like the labyrinth of the Minotaur in Greek myth. Phrases: a hedge maze, a corn maze, get lost in a maze, a maze of.

Examples

• We got lost in the hedge maze for half an hour. tree →
• Draw a line through the maze to help the mouse find the cheese. tree →
• We programmed the robot to get through the maze. tree →
• The old town was a maze of narrow streets. tree →
• The corn maze at the farm had a scarecrow in the middle. tree →
• If you keep your hand on one wall, you may find your way out of the maze. tree →
• The Minotaur lived in a maze called the labyrinth. tree →
• Filling in the form felt like a maze of questions. tree →
• Mazed with fear he struggled on toward the flickering light that looked like help and safety. tree →

Note

Countable: a maze, mazes. Homophone: «maize» (corn, the plant) sounds the same; a «maize maze» is a maze cut into a field of maize! The adjective «amazing» comes from an old meaning of «amaze», to confuse. Wall-following works for simple mazes but not for every maze.