ABOUT RIDDLE
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DICTIONARY MEANING
rid·dle 1
(rĭd′l)
tr.v. rid·dled, rid·dling, rid·dles
1. To pierce with numerous holes; perforate: riddle a target with bullets.
2. To spread throughout: "Election campaigns have always been riddled withdemagogy and worse" (New Republic).
3. To put (gravel, for example) through a coarse sieve.
n.
A coarse sieve, as for gravel.
[Middle English ridelen, to sift, from riddil, sieve, from Old English hriddel; seekrei- in Indo-European roots.]
rid′dler n.
rid·dle 2
(rĭd′l)
n.
1. A question or statement requiring thought to answer or understand; aconundrum.
2. One that is perplexing; an enigma.
v. rid·dled, rid·dling, rid·dles
v.tr.
To solve or explain.
v.intr.
1. To propound or solve riddles.
2. To speak in riddles.
rid′dler n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
riddle
(ˈrɪdəl)
n
1. a question, puzzle, or verse so phrased that ingenuity is required for elucidationof the answer or meaning; conundrum
2. a person or thing that puzzles, perplexes, or confuses; enigma
vb
3. to solve, explain, or interpret (a riddle or riddles)
4. (intr) to speak in riddles
[Old English rǣdelle, rǣdelse, from rǣd counsel; related to Old Saxon rādislo, GermanRätsel]
ˈriddler nriddle
(ˈrɪdəl)
vb (tr)
1. (usually foll by with) to pierce or perforate with numerous holes: riddled withbullets.
2. to damage or impair
3. to put through a sieve; sift
4. to fill or pervade: the report was riddled with errors.
n
5. (Tools) a sieve, esp a coarse one used for sand, grain, etc
[Old English hriddel a sieve, variant of hridder; related to Latin crībrum sieve]
ˈriddler n
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003
rid•dle1
(ˈrɪd l)n., v. -dled, -dling. n.
1. a question framed so as to exercise one's ingenuity in answering it ordiscovering its meaning; conundrum.
2. a puzzling question, problem, or matter.
3. a puzzling thing or person.
v.i.
4. to propound riddles; speak enigmatically.
[before 1000; Middle English redel(s) (n.), Old English rǣdels(e) counsel, opinion, riddle=rǣd(an) to counsel, rede + -els(e) deverbal n. suffix; loss of -s- in Middle Englishthrough confusion with the pl. form of the n. suffix -el -le (compare burial)]
rid•dle2
(ˈrɪd l)v. -dled, -dling,
n. v.t.
1. to pierce with many holes suggesting those of a sieve.
2. to fill or affect with (something undesirable): a government riddled with graft.
3. to sift through a riddle, as gravel; screen.
n.
4. a coarse sieve, as one for sifting sand in a foundry.
[before 1100; (n.) Middle English riddil, Old English hriddel, variant of hridder, hrīder, c.German Reiter; akin to Latin crībrum sieve; (v.) Middle English ridlen to sift, derivative ofthe n.]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
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