riddle

Definitions

1. 1.A board having a row of pins, set zigzag, between which wire is drawn to straighten it.
2. 2.To separate, as grain from the chaff, with a riddle; to pass through a riddle; as, riddle wheat; to riddle coal or gravel.
3. 3.To perforate so as to make like a riddle; to make many holes in; as, a house riddled with shot.
4. 4.Something proposed to be solved by guessing or conjecture; a puzzling question; an ambiguous proposition; an enigma; hence, anything ambiguous or puzzling. To wring from me, and tell to them, my secret, That solved the riddle which I had proposed. Milton. 'T was a strange riddle of a lady. Hudibras.
5. 5.To explain; to solve; to unriddle. Riddle me this, and guess him if you can. Dryden.
6. 6.To speak ambiguously or enigmatically. "Lysander riddels very prettily." Shak.

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

Synonyms

Related questions

• What does "riddle" mean?
• What is another word for "riddle"?

Reverse-dictionary questions

Definition-first questions whose answer is riddle.

• What is a board having a row of pins, set zigzag, between which wire is drawn to straighten it called?
• What is to separate, as grain from the chaff, with a riddle; to pass through a riddle; as, riddle wheat; to riddle coal or gravel called?
• What is to perforate so as to make like a riddle; to make many holes in; as, a house riddled with shot called?
• What is to explain; to solve; to unriddle. Riddle me this, and guess him if you can. Dryden called?
• What is to speak ambiguously or enigmatically. "Lysander riddels very prettily." Shak called?