riddle

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“
I have sworn to myself that I will not marry, even if a thousand years go by, unless someone answers my riddle, and that I will give myself to that man only who does answer it The three days passed; then the riddle was asked: 'What did the rose do to the cypress?'

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Definitions (44)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (9)

  1. transitive verb To pierce with numerous holes; perforate: riddle a target with bullets.
  2. transitive verb To spread throughout: "Election campaigns have always been riddled with demagogy and worse” (New Republic).
  3. transitive verb To put (gravel, for example) through a coarse sieve.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (22)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (5)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (8)

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Examples (50)

  • If to any his character appear like a riddle, they should remember that, men, like other things, have “two sides,” and often a top and a bottom in addition. —  The Narrative of Lunsford Lane, Formerly of Raleigh, N.C.
  • But the mother says she wasn't like that, and adding to the riddle is the fact that she left behind all her personal belongings in the B ;B where she was staying. —  FSF,October2005
  • "It's like a riddle, and we need to solve it," Davies said. —  Badger Herald: News Updates
  • It's a good day for an old (but not terribly difficult) word riddle: —  mental_floss Blog
  • To solve a well designed crossword riddle, one has to use ones knowledge & awareness … .. —  Find Free Articles - ArticlesBase
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Related

Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

enigma ·  dilemma ·  puzzle ·  paradox ·  mystery ·  conundrum ·  contradiction ·  allusion ·  proverb ·  anomaly ·  pun ·  epigram

Used in the same contextWord Family

riddle:   riddles ·  riddling ·  riddled
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (8)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. Middle English ridelen, to sift, from riddil, sieve, from Old English hriddel; see krei- in Indo-European roots.
  2. Middle English redels, from Old English rǣdels; see ar- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (6)

  1. from Middle English ridil, rydyl, redel (plural redeles), earlier rydels, redels, rædels (plural rædelses), from AB. rǣdels (plural rǣdelsas), masculine, rǣdelse, rēdelse (plural rǣdelsan), feminine, counsel, consideration, debate, conjecture, interpretation, imagination, an enigma, riddle (= Dutch raadsel = Middle Low German radelse, Low German redelse, radelse = Old High German *rātisal, Middle High German rātsal, ractsel, German rätsel, räthsel, a riddle), from rǣdan, counsel, consider, interpret, read: see read.
  2. = German räthseln, rätseln; from the noun: see riddle, n.
  3. from Middle English *riddel, ryddel, rydel, ridil, rydyl, for earlier ridder: see ridder.
  4. from Middle English riddlen, ridlen, ridelen, rydelen, for earlier riddren: see ridder, v. Cf. riddle, n.
  5. from Middle English riddel, ridel, redel, rudel, from Old French ridel, French rideau (Middle Latin ridellus), a curtain, orig. a plaited stuff, from rider, wrinkle, plait, from Middle High German rīden, wrinkle, = English writhe: see writhe.
  6. from Middle English ridlen; apparently from riddle, n., in its orig. sense, a plaited stuff. Cf. raddle.
 

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/ˈrɪdl/
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