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riddle
[*** \mathrm{riddle}^1] | ˈridl |
source: [氷菓の折木奉太郎の髪がなびくGIF画像|無料GIF画像検索 GIFMAGAZINE 728823]

noun
a question or statement intentionally phrased so as to require ingenuity in ascertaining its answer or meaning, typically presented as a game.: 概してゲームとして出される、その答えや意味を突き止めるのに巧妙さを求めるように言い表される質問、発言
なぞなぞ
a person, event, or fact that is difficult to understand or explain: 理解すること、説明することが難しい人、出来事、事実
謎, 難問; 謎めいた事, 物, 人(mystery)
e.g. the riddle of her death.: 彼女の死の謎

verb no object archaic
speak in or pose riddles: なぞなぞを話す、出す
e.g. he who knows not how to riddle.: 彼はなぞなぞの出し方を知らない彼
with two objects solve or explain (a riddle) to (someone): (人に)(なぞなぞを)解く、説明する
…の謎を解く
e.g. riddle me this then.: ではこれを私に説明して

PHRASES
talk (or speak) in riddles
express oneself in an ambiguous or puzzling manner.

DERIVATIVES
riddler | ˈrid(ə)lər | noun

ORIGIN

[*** \mathrm{riddle}^2] | ˈridl |

verb with object
1. (usually be riddled) make many holes in (someone or something), especially with gunshot:
e.g. his car was riddled by sniper fire.
fill or permeate (someone or something), especially with something unpleasant or undesirable:
e.g. the existing law is riddled with loopholes.
2. pass (a substance) through a large coarse sieve:
e.g. for final potting, the soil mixture is not riddled.
remove ashes or other unwanted material from (something, especially a fire or stove) with a sieve.

noun
a large coarse sieve, especially one used for separating ashes from cinders or sand from gravel.

ORIGIN
late Old English hriddel, of Germanic origin; from an Indo-European root shared by Latin cribrum ‘sieve’, cernere ‘separate’, and Greek krinein ‘decide’.