Rickle
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A loose, disordered collection of things; a heap; a jumble. Scotland
"It was no more than a butt and a ben, with a rickle of sheds behind it where old Pooty kept his donkey that was nearly as old […]"
- 2 A small rick of grain. Scotland
- 3 A dilapidated or ramshackle building. Scotland
"We came home by a place called Speke Hall — built 1589 — the queerest-looking old rickle of boards that I ever set eyes on; […]"
- 4 Any object in poor condition, particularly a vehicle. Scotland
"On a memorable night was the old rickle of a boat taken out to the West Sands during a terrible storm, when Admiral Maitland Dougall distinguished himself by his valiant services."
- 5 An emaciated person or animal. Scotland
"But it's a bad disaise that can't be cured somehow, Manis said to himself — so be began to consider how to sell his rickle of a pony to advantage."
Example
More examples"It was no more than a butt and a ben, with a rickle of sheds behind it where old Pooty kept his donkey that was nearly as old […]"
Etymology
From Scots rickle, from Old English hrēac (“stack”) with the Scots suffix -le (“full (of)”).
Related phrases
More for "rickle"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.