riddle

Etymology 1

From Middle English redel, redels, from Old English rǣdels, rǣdelse (“counsel, opinion, imagination, riddle”), from Proto-West Germanic *rādislī (“counsel, conjecture”). Analyzable as rede (“advice”) + -le. Akin to Old English rǣdan (“to read, advise, interpret”).

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?
2. An ancient verbal, poetic, or literary form, in which, rather than a rhyme scheme, there are parallel opposing expressions with a hidden meaning.

verb

1. To speak ambiguously or enigmatically.
2. (transitive) To solve, answer, or explicate a riddle or question.
   Riddle me this.

Etymology 2

From Middle English riddil, ridelle (“sieve”), from Old English hriddel (“sieve”), alteration of earlier hridder, hrīder, from Proto-West Germanic *hrīdrā, from Proto-Germanic *hrīdrą, *hrīdrǭ (“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">sieve; to sieve">sieve; to sift.
   You have to riddle the gravel before you lay it on the road.
   In its finest form – two years old or more – leaf mould can be riddled (sieved) and used, mixed 50/50 with sand, to make fine potting compost for seeds and cuttings. 8 April 2014, Helen Yemm, “Thorny problems: How can I revive a forsythia hedge? [print version 5 April 2014, p. G9]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Gardening), London
2. To fill with holes like a riddle.
   The shots from his gun began to riddle the targets.
   Kalinin Bay is also in trouble, trading fire with Japanese destroyers and taking hits from both them and cruisers at the same time. Unlike the Gambier Bay, however, it does not appear that these ships have realized they need to switch to high explosive from armor-piercing, and, despite being riddled with shellfire, the ship stays afloat, despite this rather-unequal battering going on for another twenty to thirty minutes. 27 February 2019, Drachinifel, 29:08 from the start, in The Battle of Samar - Odds? What are those?, archived from the original on 2022-11-03
3. To fill or spread throughout; to pervade.
   Your argument is riddled with errors.

Etymology 3

From Middle English riddel, ridel, redel, rudel, from Old French ridel ("a plaited stuff; curtain"; > Medieval Latin ridellus), from rider (“to wrinkle”), from Old High German rīdan (“to turn; wrap; twist; wrinkle”). More at writhe. Doublet of rideau.

noun

1. (obsolete) A curtain; bedcurtain.
2. (religious) One of the pair of curtains enclosing an altar on the north and south.

Etymology 4

From Middle English ridlen, from the noun (see above).

verb

1. (transitive, obsolete) To plait.