riddle
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English [edit]
Pronunciation [edit]
- Rhymes: -ɪdəl
Etymology 1 [edit]
Middle English redel, redels, from Old English rǣdels, rǣdelse (“counsel", "opinion", "imagination", "riddle”), from Proto-Germanic *rēdislijan (“counsel, conjecture”). Akin to Old Saxon rādisli (Dutch raadsel), Old High German rādisle (German Rätsel (“riddle”)), Old English rǣdan (“to read, advise, interpret”).
Noun [edit]
riddle (plural riddles)
- A verbal puzzle, mystery, or other problem of an intellectual nature, such as "It's black, and white, and red all over. What is it?"
Synonyms [edit]
- (verbal puzzle, mystery or problem): enigma, conundrum, brain-teaser
Derived terms [edit]
Translations [edit]
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Verb [edit]
riddle (third-person singular simple present riddles, present participle riddling, simple past and past participle riddled)
- To speak ambiguously or enigmatically.
- (transitive) To solve, answer, or explicate a riddle or question
- Riddle me this, meaning Answer the following question.
Translations [edit]
Etymology 2 [edit]
From Middle English riddil, ridelle (“sieve”) from Old English {{term|hriddel||sieve", alteration of earlier hridder, hrīder from Proto-Germanic *hridan (“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.
Noun [edit]
riddle (plural riddles)
- 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.
Translations [edit]
Verb [edit]
riddle (third-person singular simple present riddles, present participle riddling, simple past and past participle riddled)
- To fill with holes.
- The shots from his gun began to riddle the target.
- To fill or spread throughout; to pervade.
- Your argument is riddled with errors.
- To put something through a sieve
- You have to riddle the gravel before you lay it on the road.
Translations [edit]
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