Domino is a tile game involving laying tiles down in a line on a flat surface. Each tile has a number showing on one side and the other. The goal is to play all of your tiles before your opponent does. Once a player plays all of their tiles, the other players may then play theirs in turn, forming a chain of dominoes that gradually increases in length. When a chain has reached its full length, the last domino is called the “last tiger”. If any player makes a mistake while playing a domino, they lose their turn and must take an extra turn before starting a new domino chain.
Dominoes are also used in games that involve blocking other players, scoring points, or assembling a picture puzzle. Some of these games are played by counting the pips on each domino, while others require a person to block other players while trying to empty their hands or make a particular type of move.
A large part of the fun in dominoes comes from arranging the pieces in a careful sequence to create elaborate structures. Some people even put on domino shows, where they try to build the most complex dominoes possible before a live audience. Some of these builders even win competitions for their amazing creations, which can include hundreds or thousands of dominoes set up in careful succession, all toppled with the nudge of only one.
Another thing that makes Domino’s so successful is its strong focus on customer relations. The company regularly conducts employee surveys, listens to complaints, and makes changes based on the feedback it receives. One of the company’s main goals is to be a good corporate citizen, and this is an integral part of its business strategy (PR Newswire, 2013).
The word “domino” itself derives from the Latin dominus, meaning master of the house. The name eventually evolved into the French and English domino, which originally referred to a long hooded cloak worn together with a mask at a carnival or masquerade. It later referred to the piece of the game itself, which was first made with ebony blacks and ivory faces.
When it comes to writing a story, it’s helpful to think of each scene as a domino that needs to be lined up in a row before it can fall. When you have all your scene dominoes in a row, the rest of the story can then flow naturally and build toward its big climax. Writers who don’t have their dominoes in a row often end up with a story that has hiccups in logic and a lot of wasted effort. Get those dominoes in a row and you’ll have a story that readers will enjoy. They’ll want to keep reading until the end. These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word ‘domino.’ Any opinions in these examples do not represent the views of Merriam-Webster or its editors.