10 definitions found

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

riddle

noun

1: a difficult problem [syn: {conundrum}, {enigma}, {brain-teaser}]

2: a coarse sieve (as for gravel)

verb

1: pierce many times; "The bullets riddled his body"

2: set a difficult problem or riddle; "riddle me a riddle"

3: separate with a riddle, as grain from chaff [syn: {screen}]

4: speak in riddles

5: explain a riddle

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:

Riddle \Rid"dle\, verb (used with an object) To explain; to solve; to unriddle.

Riddle me this, and guess him if you can. --Dryden.

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:

Riddle \Rid"dle\, verb (used without an object) To speak ambiguously or enigmatically. ''Lysander riddels very prettily.'' --Shak.

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:

Riddle \Rid"dle\, noun [OE. ridil, AS. hridder; akin to G. reiter, L. cribrum, and to Gr. ??? to distinguish, separate, and G. rein clean. See {Crisis}, {Certain}.]

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 having a row of pins, set zigzag, between which wire is drawn to straighten it.

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:

Riddle \Rid"dle\, verb (used with an object) [imp. & p. p. {Riddled}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Riddling}.]

1. To separate, as grain from the chaff, with a riddle; to pass through a riddle; as, riddle wheat; to riddle coal or gravel.

2. To perforate so as to make like a riddle; to make many holes in; as, a house riddled with shot.

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:

Riddle \Rid"dle\, noun [For riddels, s being misunderstood as the plural ending; OE. ridels, redels. AS. r?dels; akin to D. raadsel, G. r["a]thsel; fr. AS. r?dan to counsel or advise, also, to guess. [root]116. Cf. {Read}.] Something proposed to be solved by guessing or conjecture; a puzzling question; an ambiguous proposition; an enigma; hence, anything ambiguous or puzzling.

To wring from me, and tell to them, my secret, That solved the riddle which I had proposed. --Milton.

'T was a strange riddle of a lady. --Hudibras.

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

392 Moby Thesaurus words for "riddle": Chinese puzzle, anagram, answer, arabesque, assort, auger, babble, baffle, bafflement, basketry, basketwork, be Greek to, be beyond one, be too deep, beat one, bewilderment, bite, blaze, blaze a trail, blemish, blotch, blow to pieces, blow up, bolt, bolter, bore, bother, bottom, brain, brand, bring down, broach, burn to death, cancellation, categorize, chalk, chalk up, charade, charge, check, check off, cicatrize, clarifier, classify, clear up, cock, colander, collate, confoundment, confusion, conundrum, cordon, cordon off, countersink, crack, cradle, cribble, cribriformity, cribrosity, cross-hatching, crossing-out, cull out, cut down, cut to pieces, dapple, dark horse, dash, deal a deathblow, debug, decipher, decode, define, delimit, demarcate, detonate, dilemma, discharge, discolor, discomposure, disconcert, disconcertedness, disconcertion, disconcertment, disentangle, disintegrate, disturbance, divide, divine, do, dope, dope out, dot, drill, drop, eject, embarrassment, empierce, engrave, enigma, escape one, explain, fathom, fell, figure out, filigree, fill, filter, find out, find the answer, find the solution, fire, fire off, fix, fleck, frag, freckle, fret, fretwork, frontier, frontiers of knowledge, gash, get, get right, ghettoize, gibber, gin, gore, gouge, gouge out, gradate, grade, grate, grating, grid, gridiron, grille, grillwork, group, guess, guess right, gun, gun down, gun for, hachure, hatch, hatching, have it, hit, hit it, hole, honeycomb, impale, impress, imprint, incinerate, infect, infest, insulate, interlacement, interpret, intertexture, intertwinement, isolate, jam, jugulate, keep apart, keep aside, lace, lacery, lacework, lacing, lance, lapidate, lattice, latticework, lay aside, lay low, let fly, let off, line, lixiviator, load, logogriph, lose one, make a mark, make out, mark, mark off, mark out, matter of ignorance, mesh, meshes, meshwork, mottle, mystery, mystification, n, need explanation, needle, net, netting, network, nick, nonplus, not make sense, not penetrate, notch, open the lock, pass comprehension, pelt, pencil, penetrate, pepper, percolator, perforate, permeate, perplex, perplexity, perturbation, pervade, pick off, pick out, pickle, pierce, pink, pistol, plexure, plexus, plight, plug, plumb, point, poleax, porosity, porousness, poser, pot, pother, potshoot, potshot, predicament, prick, prime, print, problem, psych, psych out, punch, punctuate, puncture, purifier, put aside, puzzle, puzzle out, puzzlement, quandary, quarantine, question, raddle, rank, ravel, ravel out, ream, ream out, rebus, refiner, refinery, resolve, reticle, reticulation, reticule, reticulum, rocker, run through, scar, scarify, score, scotch, scrape, scratch, screen, screening, seal, sealed book, seam, seclude, segregate, separate, set apart, set aside, shoot, shoot at, shoot down, shoot to death, shotgun, sieve, sievelikeness, sift, sifter, silence, size, skewer, snipe, solve, sort, sort out, sorter, speak in tongues, spear, speck, speckle, spike, spit, splotch, sponge, spot, spread, stab, stab to death, stain, stamp, stew, stick, stigmatize, stone, stone to death, strainer, streak, striate, strike, strike dead, stripe, subordinate, take a potshot, talk double Dutch, tap, tattoo, terra incognita, texture, the incalculable, the strange, the unfamiliar, the unknowable, the unknown, thrash, thresh, tick, tick off, tissue, torpedo, trace, tracery, transfix, transpierce, trellis, trelliswork, trepan, trephine, unassuredness, underline, underscore, undo, unexplored ground, unexplored territory, unknown quantity, unlock, unravel, unriddle, unscramble, untangle, untwist, unweave, upset, vaporize, wattle, weave, weaving, web, webbing, webwork, weft, why, wicker, wickerwork, winnow, winnowing basket, winnowing fan, winnowing machine, work, work out, x, z

From U.S. Gazetteer (1990) [gazetteer]:

Riddle, OR (city, FIPS 61850) Location: 42.95370 N, 123.36612 W Population (1990): 1143 (427 housing units) Area: 1.7 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water) Zip code(s): 97469

From U.S. Gazetteer Places (2000) [gaz-place]:

Riddle, OR -- U.S. city in Oregon Population (2000): 1014 Housing Units (2000): 406 Land area (2000): 0.667267 sq. miles (1.728214 sq. km) Water area (2000): 0.000000 sq. miles (0.000000 sq. km) Total area (2000): 0.667267 sq. miles (1.728214 sq. km) FIPS code: 61850 Located within: Oregon (OR), FIPS 41 Location: 42.951605 N, 123.365052 W ZIP Codes (1990): 97469 Note: some ZIP codes may be omitted esp. for suburbs. Headwords: Riddle, OR Riddle

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:

Riddle (Heb. hodah). The oldest and, strictly speaking, the only example of a riddle was that propounded by Samson (Judg. 14:12-18). The parabolic prophecy in Ezek. 17:2-18 is there called a "riddle." It was rather, however, an allegory. The word "darkly" in 1 Cor. 13:12 is the rendering of the Greek enigma; marg., "in a riddle."
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