RIDDLE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does riddle mean? 

• RIDDLE (noun)
  The noun RIDDLE has 2 senses:

1. a difficult problem

2. a coarse sieve (as for gravel)

  Familiarity information: RIDDLE used as a noun is rare.

• RIDDLE (verb)
  The verb RIDDLE has 6 senses:

1. pierce with many holes

2. set a difficult problem or riddle

3. separate with a riddle, as grain from chaff

4. spread or diffuse through

5. speak in riddles

6. explain a riddle

  Familiarity information: RIDDLE used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• RIDDLE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A difficult problem

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

brain-teaser; conundrum; enigma; riddle

Hypernyms ("riddle" is a kind of...):

problem (a question raised for consideration or solution)

Derivation:

riddle (set a difficult problem or riddle)

riddle (speak in riddles)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A coarse sieve (as for gravel)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("riddle" is a kind of...):

screen; sieve (a strainer for separating lumps from powdered material or grading particles)

Derivation:

riddle (separate with a riddle, as grain from chaff)

• RIDDLE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they riddle    ... he / she / it riddles   
Past simple: riddled   
Past participle: riddled   
-ing form: riddling   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Pierce with many holes

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

The bullets riddled his body

Hypernyms (to "riddle" is one way to...):

pierce (make a hole into)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Set a difficult problem or riddle

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Context example:

riddle me a riddle

Hypernyms (to "riddle" is one way to...):

amaze; baffle; beat; bewilder; dumbfound; flummox; get; gravel; mystify; nonplus; perplex; pose; puzzle; stick; stupefy; vex (be a mystery or bewildering to)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something ----s somebody

Derivation:

riddle (a difficult problem)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Separate with a riddle, as grain from chaff

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

riddle; screen

Hypernyms (to "riddle" is one way to...):

sieve; sift; strain (separate by passing through a sieve or other straining device to separate out coarser elements)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

riddle (a coarse sieve (as for gravel))

Sense 4

Meaning:

Spread or diffuse through

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

diffuse; imbue; interpenetrate; penetrate; permeate; pervade; riddle

Context example:

His campaign was riddled with accusations and personal attacks

Hypernyms (to "riddle" is one way to...):

penetrate; perforate (pass into or through, often by overcoming resistance)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "riddle"):

spiritise; spiritize (imbue with a spirit)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Sense 5

Meaning:

Speak in riddles

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "riddle" is one way to...):

communicate; intercommunicate (transmit thoughts or feelings)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

riddle (a difficult problem)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Explain a riddle

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "riddle" is one way to...):

figure out; lick; puzzle out; solve; work; work out (find the solution to (a problem or question) or understand the meaning of)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

 Context examples 

“She is a riddle, quite a riddle!” said she.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

"I believe our young friend has read the riddle," said Challenger.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I never could guess a riddle in my life.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

All that Silver said was a riddle to him, but you would never have guessed it from his tone.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Larsen B's disintegration was preceded by an atypical heatwave that riddled it with meltwater ponds, focusing researchers' attention on pond fracturing, also called hydrofracturing.

(Reframing the dangers Antarctica's meltwater ponds pose to ice shelves and sea level, National Science Foundation)

The discovery about the caterpillar’s hunger for plastic was accidental, said Bertocchini, adding that the plastic bags containing the wax worms “became riddled with holes.”

(Plastic Eating Worm Could Help Ease Pollution, VOA)

Scientists have solved the riddle behind one of the most recognisable, and annoying, household sounds: the dripping tap.

(What causes the sound of a dripping tap – and how do you stop it?, University of Cambridge)

Then three or four western bad men aspired to clean out the town, were riddled like pepper-boxes for their pains, and public interest turned to other idols.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

And then in an instant the key of the riddle was in my hands, and I saw that every third word, beginning with the first, would give a message which might well drive old Trevor to despair.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It was a People's Course, the lecture on the Pyramids, and Jo rather wondered at the choice of such a subject for such an audience, but took it for granted that some great social evil would be remedied or some great want supplied by unfolding the glories of the Pharaohs to an audience whose thoughts were busy with the price of coal and flour, and whose lives were spent in trying to solve harder riddles than that of the Sphinx.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)