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| rid·dle [ rídd'l ] |
transitive verb (past and past participle rid·dled, present participle rid·dling, 3rd person present singular rid·dles) |
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| Definition: |
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1. make holes in something: to damage something by making a large number of small holes in it
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2. affect every part: to affect every part of something, e.g. by spreading throughout
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3. sift soil or stones: to put soil or stones through a sieve to separate the large pieces from the small ones
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4. shake ashes from fire: to shake ashes from the bottom of a fire by poking it with a metal rod or moving a mechanism under the grate
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noun (plural rid·dles) |
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| Definition: |
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sieve: a large flat shallow sieve for sifting soil or stones
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| [ Old English hriddel "sieve," alteration of hridder< Indo-European, "to sort"] |
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  rid·dler noun |
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