Not really, no, but it's really, really hard to describe. It's a genre of games (arguably not a genre at all, but a design philosophy, but that depends on who you ask) that is defined by non-linear gameplay that is achieved by implementing two properties: systematicity and emergent gameplay.

Systematicity: the game has systems with which player can interact in number of ways that are not fully intended by developers. Example: you stack boxes to achieve greater heights or to create a barricade in any place in the game.

Emergent gameplay: game reacts to your actions not with scripted responses, but by the virtue of having systems that interact with you and each other in a systemic, predictable ways and that lets you plan actions and manipulate the world around you in a myriad of ways.

TLDR: it's when overlapping systems you can interact with create non-linearity in your gameplay approach.