riddle

Definition

  • noun: a difficult question that is asked as a game and that has a surprising or funny answer
  • noun: a mystifying, misleading, or puzzling question posed as a problem to be solved or guessed
  • verb: to make many holes in (something or someone) 'with' something
  • verb: to speak in or propound 'riddles'
  • sometimes used figuratively
  • synonyms: conundrum, enigma, explain

Examples

  • The book 'is riddled with' mistakes. [=the book has many mistakes]

  • Stop speaking in 'riddles'. [=stop speaking in a confusing way]

  • The first person to solve the 'riddle' wins a candy bar.

Movie clips

Movie quotes

  • (..) to finish what he started. He said that? Are you that guy? Huh? Are you? Because if you are then you can solve the riddle of your heart. I don't know where you get your information, but he wasn't my biggest fan. - What do your remember about your dad huh? - He was cold, he was calculating... (..)
    2010 Iron Man 2
  • (..) One of you... Its Black Gates are guarded by more than just Orcs. There is evil there that does not sleep. The Great Eye is ever-watchful. It is a barren wasteland... ...riddled with fire,and ash and dust. The very air you breathe is a poisonous fume. Not with men could you do this. It is folly. (..)
    2001 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
  • (..) I'm just trying to understand. How could you understand? Do you know what it is to be a lover? To be half of a whole? No. I'll tell you a riddle. You're waiting for a train. A train that will take you far away. You know where you hope this train will take you... ...but you don't know for sure. (..)
    2010 Inception