Example: She tried to join the dots to understand the picture.
Definition
"To join the dots" means to connect separate pieces of information or clues in order to understand the whole situation or solve a problem. It is often used metaphorically to describe the process of making sense of complex or incomplete data by finding relationships between different elements.
The phrase "to join the dots" originates from children's connect-the-dots puzzles, where a series of numbered dots are connected to reveal a picture. Over time, it evolved into a metaphor for linking pieces of information to form a complete understanding. Did you know? The phrase captures the idea of gradually uncovering a bigger picture by connecting simple points.
Learn to use this expression actively
"To join the dots" appears in the Vocaplus list "English - General - Idioms and Proverbs - (C2) - set 1", containing 106 commonly used expressions.
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