/ ˈrɪdl; NAmE / noun , verb
■ noun
1.
a question that is difficult to understand, and that has a surprising answer, that you ask sb as a game :
Stop talking in riddles (= saying things that are confusing) —say what you mean.
to solve the riddle of the Sphinx
2.
a mysterious event or situation that you cannot explain
SYN mystery :
the riddle of how the baby died
■ verb
[ vn ] [ usually passive ] to make a lot of holes in sb/sth :
The car was riddled with bullets .
•
IDIOMS
- be riddled with sth
••
WORD ORIGIN
noun Old English rǣdels , rǣdelse opinion, conjecture, riddle ; related to Dutch raadsel , German Rätsel , also to read .
verb late Old English hriddel , of Germanic origin; from an Indo-European root shared by Latin cribrum sieve, cernere separate, and Greek krinein decide.