English Explanatory Dictionary

riddle

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A verbal puzzle, mystery, or other problem of an intellectual nature.
  2. An ancient verbal, poetic, or literary form, in which, rather than a rhyme scheme, there are parallel opposing expressions with a hidden meaning.
verb
  1. To speak ambiguously or enigmatically.
  2. To solve, answer, or explicate a riddle or question.
noun
  1. 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.
  2. A board with a row of pins, set zigzag, between which wire is drawn to straighten it.
verb
  1. To put something through a riddle or sieve; to sieve; to sift.
  2. To fill with holes like a riddle.
  3. To fill or spread throughout; to pervade (with something destructive or weakening).
noun
  1. A curtain; bedcurtain.
  2. One of the pair of curtains enclosing an altar on the north and south.
verb
  1. To plait.
name
  1. A surname.
  2. A place in the United States:
  3. An unincorporated community in Owyhee County, Idaho.
  4. An unincorporated community in Ohio Township, Crawford County, Indiana, named after George Washington Riddle.
  5. A city in Douglas County, Oregon.
  6. An unincorporated community in Ritchie County, West Virginia.

Pronunciation

/ˈɹɪdəl/ [ˈɹʷɪdəl] ~ [ˈɹʷɪdl̩] LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-riddle.wav /ˈɹɪɾəl/ [ˈɹʷɪɾəl] ~ [ˈɹʷɪɾl̩]

Word forms

riddle riddles riddling riddled

Etymology

From Middle English redel, redels, from Old English rǣdels, rǣdelse (“counsel, opinion, imagination, riddle”), from Proto-West Germanic *rādislī (“counsel, conjecture”). Analyzable as rede (“advice”) + -le. Akin to Old English rǣdan (“to read, advise, interpret”). Cognate with Dutch raadsel, German Rätsel.

Synonyms

enigma conundrum brain-teaser decipher puzzle out unriddle absolve get to the bottom of iron out meliorate ravel reason out resolve riddle sleuth solve tease out think out unpuzzle unravel unsolve upsolve work out Any from Thesaurus:untangle litter

Derived words

riddle canon riddlelike riddle me ree riddle me this riddler riddlesome riddle stick riddle wrapped in an enigma world riddle riddlee riddlingly unriddle unriddleable
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