Riddle
['rɪd(ə)l] or ['rɪdl]
Definition
(noun.) a coarse sieve (as for gravel).
(noun.) a difficult problem.
(verb.) set a difficult problem or riddle; 'riddle me a riddle'.
(verb.) explain a riddle.
(verb.) speak in riddles.
(verb.) pierce with many holes; 'The bullets riddled his body'.
(verb.) separate with a riddle, as grain from chaff.
Edited by Barbie--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) 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.
(n.) A board having a row of pins, set zigzag, between which wire is drawn to straighten it.
(v. t.) To separate, as grain from the chaff, with a riddle; to pass through a riddle; as, riddle wheat; to riddle coal or gravel.
(v. t.) To perforate so as to make like a riddle; to make many holes in; as, a house riddled with shot.
(n.) Something proposed to be solved by guessing or conjecture; a puzzling question; an ambiguous proposition; an enigma; hence, anything ambiguous or puzzling.
(v. t.) To explain; to solve; to unriddle.
(v. i.) To speak ambiguously or enigmatically.
Typist: Sean
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. Enigma, puzzle, dark problem, puzzling question.
Checked by Anita
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Puzzle, enigma, ambiguity, problem, paradox
ANT:Solution, explanation, statement, proposition, axiom
Checker: Maryann
Definition
n. an obscure description of something which the hearer is asked to name: a puzzling question: an enigma: anything puzzling even a person.—v.i. to make riddles: to speak obscurely: to plait.—adj. Ridd′le-like (Shak.) like a riddle or enigma.—ns. Ridd′ler; Ridd′ling (Spens.) skill in explaining riddles.—adv. Ridd′lingly.
n. a large sieve for separating coarser materials from finer.—v.t. to separate with a riddle as grain from chaff: to make full of holes like a riddle as with shot.—n.pl. Ridd′lings siftings.
Checked by Karol
Unserious Contents or Definition
To dream that you are trying to solve riddles, denotes you will engage in some enterprise which will try your patience and employ your money. The import of riddles is confusion and dissatisfaction.
Editor: Sasha
Examples
- Granting that to be the right reading of the riddle, it accounted, perhaps, for her flighty, self-conceited manner when she passed me in the hall. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- Madame Beck read the riddle: none else resolved it. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- At the age of six he had asked a Scripture riddle: Who was the first man known to wear breeches? Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- Indeed, mamma, since you propound the riddle, I think you ought to solve it! Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- That's how I read the riddle. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- As you very truly say, I am a riddle; but I will explain myself soon. Fergus Hume. The Island of Fantasy.
- Well, sit down quietly, and guess your riddle. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- This gives the edifice the romantic appearance of having been riddled with cannon-balls, and imparts to it a very warlike aspect. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- Our smoke-stack was riddled with bullets, but there were only three men wounded on the boats, two of whom were soldiers. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- They are the three riddles of the sphinx of fate, to which the human commonweal must find an answer or perish. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- That's a thing I shall never tell plainly; and perhaps if I try to tell you in riddles you will not care to guess them. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- You speak in riddles. Fergus Hume. The Island of Fantasy.
- Well, I suppose I am, said Crispin smilingly; but one which will shortly be explained, and, like all riddles, turn out to be very disappointing. Fergus Hume. The Island of Fantasy.
- The bulk of these new Bible students took what their consciences approved from the Bible and ignored its riddles and contradictions. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- But like so many theoretical riddles, this one rested on a very simple piece of ignorance. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- The New Order found itself confronted with three riddles which it was quite unprepared to solve: Property, Currency, and International Relationship. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
Editor: Rochelle