riot

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The usual explanation for the riot is the murder of Freddy Villanueva, an 18-year-old student mechanic.

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Definitions (37)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (10)

  1. noun A wild or turbulent disturbance created by a large number of people.
  2. noun Law A violent disturbance of the public peace by three or more persons assembled for a common purpose.
  3. noun An unrestrained outbreak, as of laughter or passions.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (18)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (3)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (6)

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Examples (50)

  • In the midst of the chorus of foxhounds came the eerie sound of the deep baying of Grimsdale's staghounds And as Melrose tried to make his way through the fog, he thought that mixed with all of this riot was the sound of a scream that no hound would make The handsome Donaldson was handsome no longer. —  deer leap.htm
  • For calling our peaceable meetings riots, which in the legal notion of the word riot is a contradiction in terms, they indicted our friends as rioters for only sitting in a meeting, though nothing was there either said or done by them, and then set fines on them at pleasure. —  The History of Thomas Ellwood Written by Himself
  • Outside a troop of cavalry cantered along the wide avenue, heading for the riot area What is the news of Klay?' —  David A
  • Othello's appearance stilling the riot, his words to Iago and his dismissal of Cassio are alike honest work. —  The Man Shakespeare
  • The only Coppers interested in starting a riot are the PoliticoPolice, those that stand to gain reward from Labour. —  Libertarian Blog Place
 

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This word has been looked up 158 times.

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

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Suggestions Wordniks Suggest

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

violence ·  rebellion ·  massacre ·  strife ·  tumult ·  disturbance ·  insurrection ·  outrage ·  bloodshed ·  disaster ·  revolution ·  assault

Used in the same contextWord Family

riot:   rioting ·  riots ·  rioted
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 (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English, from Old French, dispute, from rioter, to quarrel, perhaps from ruire, to roar, from Latin rūgīre.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. Early modern English also riotte; from Middle English riot, ryot, ryott, riote, ryote, riotte, from Old French riot, ryot, usually riote, riotte, French riotte, quarreling, brawling, confusion, riot, revelry, feasting, wrangling, = Provencal riota = Italian riotta (Middle Latin reflex *riota, riotta), quarrel, dispute, uproar, riot; origin unknown. Cf. Old Dutch revot, ravot, “caterua nebulonum et lupanar, luxus, luxuria” (Kilian).
  2. from Middle English rioten, ryoten, riotten, ryotten, from Old French rioter (= Italian riottare; Middle Latin riotare, *riottare), quarrel, revel, from riote, quarrel, riot: see riot, n.
 

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/ˈraɪət/
by American Heritage

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