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noun
1.
a question or statement so framed as to exercise one's ingenuity in answering it or discovering its meaning; conundrum.
2.
a puzzling question, problem, or matter.
3.
a puzzling thing or person.
4.
any enigmatic or dark saying or speech.
verb (used without object)
5.
to propound riddles; speak enigmatically.
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Riddle
is one of our favorite verbs.
So is fletcherise. Does it mean:
| to swindle, cheat, hoodwink, or hoax. |
| to chew (food) slowly and thoroughly. |
Origin:
before 1000; Middle English redel, redels (noun), Old English rǣdels(e) counsel, opinion, imagination, riddle (rǣd(an) to counsel, rede + -els(e) deverbal noun suffix) with loss of -s- in ME through confusion with the plural form of the noun suffix -el -le (compare burial); cognate with German Rätsel, Dutch raadsel
before 1000; Middle English redel, redels (noun), Old English rǣdels(e) counsel, opinion, imagination, riddle (rǣd(an) to counsel, rede + -els(e) deverbal noun suffix) with loss of -s- in ME through confusion with the plural form of the noun suffix -el -le (compare burial); cognate with German Rätsel, Dutch raadsel
Example Sentences
- In this lesson, students solve a riddle about the appendix and learn about the paradox surrounding this organ.
- Some researchers have used getting the punch line of a riddle as an example of an insightful.
- Have each student read his/her riddle and allow other students to guess which animal the riddle matches.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
verb (used with object)
1.
to pierce with many holes, suggesting those of a sieve: to riddle the target.
2.
to fill or affect with (something undesirable, weakening, etc.): a government riddled with graft.
3.
to impair or refute completely by persistent verbal attacks: to riddle a person's reputation.
4.
to sift through a riddle, as gravel; screen.
noun
5.
a coarse sieve, as one for sifting sand in a foundry.
Origin:
before 1100; (noun) Middle English riddil, Old English hriddel, variant of hridder, hrīder; cognate with German Reiter; akin to Latin crībrum sieve; (v.) Middle English ridlen to sift, derivative of the noun
before 1100; (noun) Middle English riddil, Old English hriddel, variant of hridder, hrīder; cognate with German Reiter; akin to Latin crībrum sieve; (v.) Middle English ridlen to sift, derivative of the noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
riddle
"A word game ot joke, comprising a question or statement couched in deliberately puzzling terms, propounded for solving by the hearer/reader using clues embedded within that wording" [Oxford Dictionary of English Folklore], O.E. rædels "opinion, riddle, counsel, conjecture," from P.Gmc. *rædislijan
EXPAND(cf. O.S. radisli, M.Du. raetsel, Du. raadsel, O.H.G. radisle, Ger. Rätsel "riddle"). Related to O.E. rædan "to advise, counsel, read, guess" (see read).
riddle
"perforate with many holes," 1817 (implied in riddled), earlier "sift" (early 13c.), from M.E. ridelle "coarse sieve," from late O.E. hriddel "sieve," altered by dissimilation from O.E. hridder "sieve," from P.Gmc. *khridan (cf. Ger. Reiter), from base *khrid- "shake" (cf. O.N. hreinn, O.H.G. hreini,
Goth. hrains "clean, pure"); probably from same PIE base as L. cribrum "sieve, riddle," Gk. krinein "to separate, distinguish, decide" (see crisis).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Easton
Bible Dictionary
Riddle definition
(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."
Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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