riddled

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search

English

[edit]

Pronunciation

[edit]

Verb

[edit]

riddled

  1. simple past and past participle of riddle

Adjective

[edit]

riddled (comparative more riddled, superlative most riddled)

  1. (also figurative) Damaged throughout by holes.
    • 2024 March 20, Conrad Landin, “"Farcical" Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act isn't working”, in RAIL, number 1005, page 25:
      When the legislation was debated by the House of Commons, Labour Deputy Leader Angela Rayner said it was "riddled with holes", while former Conservative Commons Leader Jacob Rees-Mogg said it was "badly written".
  2. Having (something) spread throughout, as if by an infestation.
    1. Taking a noun complement construed with the preposition with.
      Synonym: lousy with
      Coordinate term: peppered with
      The minister claimed that the old benefits system was riddled with abuse and fraud.
      • 2023 November 17, Blake Montgomery, “White House condemns Elon Musk’s ‘abhorrent’ antisemitic tweets”, in The Guardian[1], →ISSN:
        Another anti-extremism organization, The Center for Countering Digital Hate, filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by X on Thursday, calling the suit “riddled with legal deficiencies”.
    2. Taking a noun complement that precedes the adjective, forming a compound.
      Synonym: -ridden
      a hole-riddled sweater
      • 2008, Joan London, The Good Parents, Random House Australia, →ISBN, page 235:
        They took a swig each from an old bottle of sherry and ate some stale digestive biscuits sealed in a tin in the mouse-riddled cupboards.

Anagrams

[edit]