What does "riddling" mean?
The posing or solving of a riddle.
Riddling
adj, noun, verb
adj, noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: The posing or solving of a riddle.
- Grammar: riddling is listed as adj, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: accomplishment, answer, bemuse, clarification.
- Useful contrasts: clarification, clarify, clarity.
- Usage evidence: Track work had to be confined largely to the vital aspects of alignment and level, and the finer points of track maintenance, as well as such matters as the riddling and cleaning of ballast, proper care of drainage and formation, cuttings, and embankments, suffered considerable neglect.
How to use "riddling"
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- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "riddling" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
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- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "riddling" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "riddling" as the right word for your sentence.
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Compare nearby meanings
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- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
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Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "riddling" is acting as adj, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
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3. Confirm with context
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Final meaning check
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When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The posing or solving of a riddle.
"Hence the laughter of ridicule, whether spontaneous or incited by words, and hence too the laughter of wit, which has an intermediate ancestry in such mental tussles or riddlings as may at one time have taken the place of more savage physical strife."
- 2 Material removed by riddling, or sieving.
"The good grain is riddled by hand into a heap at a convenient part of the barn, and the riddlings are thrown among the stuff which descends to the floor through the other spout."
Verb
- 1 present participle and gerund of riddle (“to speak ambiguously or answer a question”) form-of, gerund, participle, present
"Track work had to be confined largely to the vital aspects of alignment and level, and the finer points of track maintenance, as well as such matters as the riddling and cleaning of ballast, proper care of drainage and formation, cuttings, and embankments, suffered considerable neglect."
- 2 present participle and gerund of riddle (“to sieve or fill with holes”) form-of, gerund, participle, present
- 3 present participle and gerund of riddle (“to plait”) form-of, gerund, participle, present
Adjective
- 1 Enfilled with or spread throughout; permeating; pervading.
"O perplex'd diſcompoſition, O ridling diſtemper, O miſerable condition of Man."
Antonyms
Example
"Track work had to be confined largely to the vital aspects of alignment and level, and the finer points of track maintenance, as well as such matters as the riddling and cleaning of ballast, proper care of drainage and formation, cuttings, and embankments, suffered considerable neglect."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "riddling"?
Common synonyms include: accomplishment, answer, bemuse, clarification, cryptic, decoding.
How do you use "riddling" in a sentence?
Track work had to be confined largely to the vital aspects of alignment and level, and the finer points of track maintenance, as well as such matters as the riddling and cleaning of ballast, proper care of drainage and formation, cuttings, and embankments, suffered considerable neglect.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English redel, redels, from Old English rǣdels, rǣdelse (“counsel, opinion, imagination, riddle”). More at riddle.
Etymology 2
From Middle English riddil, ridelle (“sieve”). More at riddle.
Etymology 3
From Middle English ridlen. More at riddle.