United States rhythm and blues pianist and singer and composer (born in 1928)
"Dominos released several hit songs in the 1950s that helped define the early R&B sound."
a loose hooded cloak worn with a half mask as part of a masquerade costume
"After donning her domino and half mask, she slipped into the crowded ballroom unnoticed."
a small rectangular block used in playing the game of dominoes; the face of each block has two equal areas that can bear 0 to 6 dots
"He carefully placed the final domino on the table, its white face showing six black dots."
A tile divided into two squares, each having 0 to 6 (or sometimes more) dots or pips (as in dice), used in the game of dominoes.
"He carefully placed the last domino on the table to complete his winning line."
In plain English: A domino is either a small rectangular tile with dots used for games that you knock over to start a chain reaction or any person who falls into trouble because of someone else's bad actions.
"He carefully placed the first domino to start his tower game."
Usage: Use "domino" as a noun when referring specifically to the individual tile with two sections containing dots, rather than using it interchangeably with "tile." When describing something falling like these tiles, use the verb form only if you intend for that specific chain-reaction imagery; otherwise, choose synonyms like collapse or topple.
To collapse in the manner of dominoes.
"The entire chain of events collapsed like a row of dominos after the first scandal broke."
In plain English: To domino means to cause something to happen that then triggers other things to occur automatically, just like knocking over a line of tiles causes them all to fall.
"The falling domino knocked over all the others in the line."
The word "domino" entered English in 1801 from French, where it originally referred to a hooded garment rather than the game pieces known today. This earlier meaning derived from Medieval Latin dominus, which means "lord" or "master."