riddle
part of speech
noun (riddle, riddles); verb (riddle, riddles, riddled, riddling)
meaning for a pupil
1) A riddle is a puzzle question that needs clever thinking to answer, often a play on words. tree →
2) A riddle is something hard to understand, a mystery. tree →
3) Riddled with means full of: «a wall riddled with holes». tree →
sense in the lessons
a puzzle about a number: clues tell what number is meant; in reading and stories: riddles test cleverness (a sphinx asks a riddle); in everyday life: telling riddles and jokes with friends; phrases: «solve a riddle», «tell a riddle», «talk in riddles» (speak in a way hard to understand)
examples
- Solve the riddle: I am a number, and 5 more than me is 12. tree →
- Each riddle in the book gives 3 clues. tree →
- She solved 7 riddles in 10 minutes. tree →
- Number riddle: I am between 20 and 30 and I am 4 × 6. tree →
- Riddle: What has hands but cannot clap? A clock! tree →
- The troll asked a riddle before he let them cross. tree →
- Why the old car stopped is a riddle to me. tree →
- The old tree was riddled with holes. tree →
- "Here's a riddle for you, Prince Ivan! tree →
note
A riddle about a number is an equation in words; work backwards from the clues. Trap: «5 more than me is 12» – take 5 from 12, do not add. Check every clue with your answer.
In the corpora
- So play, laugh and enjoy beating the bot at your own riddles, and check anything that matters.
- Knowing the answer to a famous riddle is not the same as solving a new one.
- When Alice asks the answer to the riddle, the Hatter says he has not the slightest idea.
- "dēnglong" means lantern; "cāi dēngmí", guessing riddles written on lanterns, is a Lantern Festival game.
- "What has keys but can't open locks?" A piano: the riddle plays on two meanings of "keys".
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «riddle» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.