riddle
nounEtymology
From Middle English riddil, ridelle (“sieve”), from Old English hriddel (“sieve”), alteration of earlier hridder, hrīder, from Proto-West Germanic *hrīdrā, from Proto-Germanic *hrīdrą, *hrīdrǭ (“sieve”), from Proto-Germanic *hrid- (“to shake”), from Proto-Indo-European *krey-. Akin to German Reiter (“sieve”), Old Norse hreinn (“pure, clean”), Old High German hreini (“pure, clean”), Gothic 𐌷𐍂𐌰𐌹𐌽𐍃 (hrains, “clean, pure”). More at rinse.
Definitions
A verbal puzzle, mystery, or other problem of an intellectual nature.
- Here's a riddle: It's black, and white, and red all over. What is it?
- To wring from me and tell to them my ſecret, / That ſolv'd the riddle which I had propos'd.
An ancient verbal, poetic, or literary form, in which, rather than a rhyme scheme, there…
An ancient verbal, poetic, or literary form, in which, rather than a rhyme scheme, there are parallel opposing expressions with a hidden meaning.
To speak ambiguously or enigmatically.
›+ 11 more definitionsshow fewer
To solve, answer, or explicate a riddle or question.
- Riddle me this.
A sieve with coarse meshes, usually of wire, for separating coarser materials from finer,…
A sieve with coarse meshes, usually of wire, for separating coarser materials from finer, as chaff from grain, cinders from ashes, or gravel from sand.
A board with a row of pins, set zigzag, between which wire is drawn to straighten it.
To put something through a riddle or sieve
To put something through a riddle or sieve; to sieve; to sift.
- You have to riddle the gravel before you lay it on the road.
- In its finest form – two years old or more – leaf mould can be riddled (sieved) and used, mixed 50/50 with sand, to make fine potting compost for seeds and cuttings.
To fill with holes like a riddle.
- The shots from his gun began to riddle the targets.
To fill or spread throughout
To fill or spread throughout; to pervade (with something destructive or weakening).
- Your argument is riddled with errors.
- O perplex'd diſcompoſition, O ridling diſtemper, O miſerable condition of Man.
A curtain
A curtain; bedcurtain.
One of the pair of curtains enclosing an altar on the north and south.
To plait.
A surname.
A place in the United States
A place in the United States:
The neighborhood
Vish — recursive loop
A definitional loop anchored at riddle. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.
A definitional loop anchored at riddle. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.
9 hops · closes at riddle
curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA