I. ˈrid ə l noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English redels, redel, ridel, from Old English rǣdels, rǣdelse opinion, conjecture, riddle; akin to Middle High German rātsel riddle, Old English rǣdan to advise, interpret — more at read
1. : a mystifying, misleading, or puzzling question posed as a problem to be solved or guessed often as a game : conundrum , enigma
2. : something or someone difficult to understand : a problematical event, situation, or person : mystery
the eternal riddle of nominalism and realism — B.N.Cardozo
will help the scientist to solve one of the many riddles of cancer — Waldemar Kaempffert
Synonyms: see mystery
II. verb
( riddled ; riddled ; riddling -d( ə )liŋ ; riddles )
transitive verb
1. : to find the solution of : explain , interpret
2. : to create or set a riddle for : mystify , perplex , puzzle
intransitive verb
: to speak in or propound riddles
III. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English riddil, from Old English hriddel, alteration of hrider, hridder — more at certain
1. : a coarse sieve: as
a. : a sieve for grading potatoes
b. : a device for sifting coal
c. : a sieve for panning gold
d. : a sieve for sand used in a foundry
e. : a strainer kept in motion to sift middlings in flour milling
2. archaic : a compartmented case or container or its contents ; especially : a 13-bottle case of wine
3. archaic : a board set with zigzag pins between which wire is drawn to straighten it
IV. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English ridlen, riddlen, from riddil sieve
transitive verb
1. : to separate (as grain from the chaff) with a riddle : pass through or as if through a riddle : screen , sift
riddled the coal to grade it by size
2.
a. : to fill (something or someone) as full of holes as a sieve : puncture often and thoroughly
he stood up, riddled them with fire and flopped down again — Dave Richardson
riddled the ship with a broadside
it had become badly riddled by termites — American Guide Series: Louisiana
b. : to spread throughout : permeate
the graft that riddles virtually every metropolitan police force — August Heckscher
its lawn riddled with weeds — Bernard Kalb
intransitive verb
: to use a riddle : sift through : penetrate , pierce
cold winds riddle through the thin walls