riddled

verbperforate, permeate

Synonyms for riddled

verb perforate, permeate

Antonyms for riddled

help

Word Origin & History

"A word game or joke, comprising a question or statement couched in deliberately puzzling terms, propounded for solving by the hearer/reader using clues embedded within that wording" [Oxford Dictionary of English Folklore], early 13c., from Old English rædels "riddle; counsel; conjecture; imagination; discussion," common Germanic (cf. Old Frisian riedsal "riddle," Old Saxon radisli, Middle Dutch raetsel, Dutch raadsel, Old High German radisle, German Rätsel "riddle").

The first element is from Proto-Germanic *redaz-, from PIE *re-dh-, from PIE *re(1)- "to reason, count" (cf. Old English rædan "to advise, counsel, read, guess;" see read (v.)). The ending is Old English noun suffix -els, the -s of which later was mistaken for a plural affix and stripped off. Meaning "anything which puzzles or perplexes" is from late 14c.

Example Sentences for riddled

The meteors that riddled the ship were projectiles shot from their station on Jupiter.

The bullet and the moth have torn And riddled well the dolmans dim.

He could not possibly have escaped with his life, Blake said; he must have been riddled with bullets.

Had I obeyed my own impulse, I should have been riddled like any colander.

Washington's clothes had been riddled by bullets, but he had escaped injury.

Phillips, his chum, had died fighting, and was riddled with shot and lance wounds.

Most of these were so riddled by worms that they were falling to pieces.

A volley is fired, and the chateau windows are riddled with balls.

It had been riddled with blast-rifle bolts, and had exploded.

While doing this, my kilt was riddled with bullets, though I escaped unhurt.

riddled

Synonyms for riddled

Antonyms for riddled

More words related to riddled

decayed