From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishriddlerid‧dle1 /ˈrɪdl/ noun [countable] 1 MYSTERIOUSa question that is deliberately very confusing and has a humorous or clever answer → puzzle See if you can solve this riddle.2 MYSTERIOUSsomething that you do not understand and cannot explain SYN puzzle, mysteryriddle of The police have been unable to solve the riddle of her disappearance.3 → talk/speak in riddles4 TZa wire container with holes in it that is used to separate earth from stones
Examples from the Corpus
riddle• The package includes a pack of cards and a booklet which has a riddle running through its pages.• Why would Ian want to claim his inheritance and then give all his money away? It was a riddle to me.• The chameleon on a mirror riddle is best kept in idealized form as a thought experiment.• But how many have ever stopped to consider this particular riddle?• Because he spoke riddles in verse, or because he didn't believe the story of Flodden?• I looked into the mirror, searching once again into the riddle of my face.• How could he make sense of it all unless he could first solve the riddle of himself?• Other interviewers who have met Geri have tried to solve the riddle of her success.• How do we solve the riddle of the disappearing marriage?• Oedipus came to Thebes and solved the riddle of the Sphinx.• On his wanderings Oedipus came to Thebes, solved the riddle of the Sphinx, and thus delivered the city.• Doctors have found a new clue to the riddle of cot death.solve ... riddle• Solve the riddle of this verse, Or suffer Ariaca's curse!• As if a degree could solve the riddle of Comrade Cancer.• How could he make sense of it all unless he could first solve the riddle of himself?• On his wanderings Oedipus came to Thebes, solved the riddle of the Sphinx, and thus delivered the city.• Yet we have been programmed to be curious, to question, to probe and to seek to solve riddles.• Vechey probably carried the vases around trying to solve the riddle.solve ... riddle• Solve the riddle of this verse, Or suffer Ariaca's curse!• As if a degree could solve the riddle of Comrade Cancer.• How could he make sense of it all unless he could first solve the riddle of himself?• On his wanderings Oedipus came to Thebes, solved the riddle of the Sphinx, and thus delivered the city.• Vechey probably carried the vases around trying to solve the riddle.riddleriddle2 verb [transitive] 1 HOLEto make a lot of small holes in something Two gunmen riddled the bus with gunfire.2 FIREto shake the coal or wood in a fire, in order to remove ashes→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
riddle• Unfortunately, the resulting shot called for the 2-iron, a club now riddled in dispute.• Gunmen riddled the bus with bullets.• The female self, under male domination, is riddled through and through with false or conditioned desires.• Even if they had the space, the concept is riddled with conflict.• This is a field riddled with dilemmas.• Jobs in the state sector are allocated by examination, but in reality the system is riddled with nepotism and clientism.• However, unconsciously I must have been riddled with remorse for so neglecting my duties.• The Supercontinent Cycle alone has left the continental crust riddled with the scars of former rifts and mergers.Origin riddle1 Old English rædelse “opinion, guess, riddle” riddle2 (1200-1300) riddle “sieve” ((11-21 centuries)), from Old English hriddel 