Riddle

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɪdÉ™l

Middle English redel, redels, from Old English rǣdels, rǣdelse ("counsel", "opinion", "imagination", "riddle"), from Proto-Germanic *rēdisliją ("counsel, conjecture"). Akin to Old Saxon rādisli (Dutch raadsel), Old High German rādisle (German Rätsel ("riddle")), Old English rǣdan ("to read, advise, interpret").

Full definition of riddle

Noun

1. A verbal puzzle, mystery, or other problem of an intellectual nature.
   "Here's a riddle: It's black, and white, and red all over. What is it?"
• John Milton (1608-1674)To wring from me, and tell to them, my secret,
  That solved the riddle which I had proposed.
• 1907, Robert Chambers, The Younger Set Chapter 8, “I never understood it,” she observed, lightly scornful. “What occult meaning has a sun-dial for a spooney ? I’m sure I don't want to read riddles into a strange gentleman’s optics.”

Synonyms

• (verbal puzzle, mystery or problem) enigma, conundrum, brain-teaser

Derived terms

• riddler
• riddle stick
• a riddle wrapped up in an enigma

Verb

1. To speak ambiguously or enigmatically.
2. (transitive) To solve, answer, or explicate a riddle or questionRiddle me this, meaning Answer the following question.

From Middle English riddil, ridelle ("sieve") from Old English hriddel ("sieve"), alteration of earlier hridder, hrīder from Proto-Germanic *hridą ("sieve"), from Proto-Germanic *hrid- ("to shake"), from Proto-Indo-European *krey-. Akin to German Reiter ("sieve"), Old Norse hreinn ("pure, clean"), Old High German hreini ("pure, clean"), Gothic 𐌷𐍂𐌰𐌹𐌽𐍃 (hrains, "clean, pure"). More at rinse.

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.You have to riddle the gravel before you lay it on the road.
• 8 April 2014, Helen Yemm, Thorny problems: How can I revive a forsythia hedge? [print version 5 April 2014, p. G9], In its finest form â€“ two years old or more â€“ leaf mould can be riddled (sieved) and used, mixed 50/50 with sand, to make fine potting compost for seeds and cuttings.
2. To fill with holes like a riddle.The shots from his gun began to riddle the target.
3. To fill or spread throughout; to pervade.Your argument is riddled with errors.

Anagrams

• dreidl