riddance 
Riddance salts. Sec the quotation. 
A group of salts chiefly magnesic and potassic, and for- 
merly called riddance gaits (Anraumsal/e), because they 
were at first without industrial application, and were 
merely extracted to reach the rock-salt below. 
Ure, Diet., III. 593. 
riddelt, See riddle*. 
ridden (rid'n). Past participle of ride. 
ridder 1 (rid'er), n. [< ME. ridder, rydder, < 
AS. hridder, orig. h ridder = OHG. ritera, MHG. 
ritere, riter, G. reiter, a sieve, = L. cribrum for 
"erithrum, a sieve, = Ir. criathar, creathair = 
5170 
form of river-weir. 4. In u-irc-trorfrhir/. a flat 
board set with iron pins sloped in opposite di- 
rections. It is used to straighten wire, which 
is drawn in a zigzag course between the pins. 
E. Jf. Kniglit.A, riddle of claret. See the quotation. 
A riddle of claret is thirteen bottles, a magnum and 
twelve quarts. The name comes from the fact that the 
wine is brought in on a literal riddle the magnum In the 
center surrounded by the quarts. A riddle of claret thus 
displayed duly appeared recently at the Edinburgh arrow 
dinner of the Royal Company of Archers. 
X. and Q., 7th ser., VIII. 13. 
tura, a sifting, etc., Gr. -^ npi, in Kpivetv, sepa- 
rate: see concern, critic, etc. The G. rader, 
rddel, a sieve, is of diff. origin, < MHG. reden, 
OHG. redan, sift.] A sieve : now usually rid- 
dle. [Prov. Eng.] 
ridder 1 (rid'er), v. t. [< ME. riddren, < AS. Tiri- 
drian (= OHG. hritaron, riteron, MHG. riteren, 
ritern, G. reitern), sift, winnow, < hridder, a 
sieve: see ridder 1 ,^} To sift ; riddle. Wyclif, 
Luke xxii. 31. 
ridder 2 (rid'er), n. [= D. redder = G. retter, 
saver, savior; as rid 1 + -er 1 .} One who or that 
which rids, frees, or relieves. 
riddle 1 (rid'l), n. [< ME. ridil, rydyl, redel (pi. 
redeles), earlier rydels, redels, rtedels (pi. ne- 
),< AS._rsedels (pi. rtedelsas), m., ri 
redelse (pi. reedelsan), f., counsel, consideration, 
debate, conjecture, interpretation, imagina- 
tion, an enigma, riddle (= D. raadscl = MLG. 
radelse, LG. redelse, radeUc = OHG. "rdtisal, 
MHG. rdtsal, raetsel, G. ra'tsel, ratlisel, a riddle), 
< rsedan, counsel, consider, interpret, read: see 
read 1 .} 1. A proposition so framed as to exer- 
cise one's ingenuity in discovering its mean- 
ing; an ambiguous, complex, or puzzling ques- -j.iJi_3, 
tion offered for solution; an enigma; a dark K * * ' 
dle%, .] I. tram. 1. To sift through a rid- 
dle or sieve: as, to riddle sand. 2. To sift 
by means of a coarse-netted dredge, as young 
oysters on a bed. 3. To reduce in quantity 
as if by sifting; condense. 
For general use the book . . . wants riddling down into 
a single volume or a large essay. 
Athenxum, No. 3207, p. 467. 
4. To fill with holes ; especially, to perforate 
with shot so as to make like a riddle ; nence, to 
puncture or pierce all over as if with shot; 
penetrate. 
His moral feelings . . . were regularly fusilladed by the 
Major . . . and riddled through and through. Dickens. 
II. intrans. 1. To use a riddle or sieve; pass 
anything through a riddle. 
Robin Goodfellow, he that sweeps the hearth and the 
house clean, riddles for the country maids, and does all 
their other drudgery. B. Jonton, Love Restored. 
2. To fall in drops or fine streams, as through 
a riddle or sieve. 
The rsyn rueled adoun, ridlande thikke, 
Of felle ftaunkes of fyr and flakes of soufre. 
Alliterative Poems (ed. Morris), II. 963. 
saying. 
"What?" quod Clergye to Conscience, "ar 30 coueitouse 
nouthe 
After seresjyues or jiftes, orsernen to rede redeles?" 
Piers Plowman (B), xiii. 184. 
We dissemble againe vnder couert and darke speaches, 
when we speake by way of riddle (Enigma), of which the 
sence can hardly be picked out but by the parties owne 
assoile. Pttttenham, Arte of Eng. Poesie, p. 157. 
Life presented itself to him like the Sphinx with its 
perpetual riddle of the real and the ideal. 
Longfellow, Kavanagh, i. 
2. Anything abstruse, intricate, paradoxical, or 
puzzling ; a puzzle. 
I would not yet be pointed at, as he Is, 
For the tine courtier, the woman's man, 
That tells my lady stories, dissolves riddles. 
Fletcher (and another), Queen of Corinth, i. 2. 
3. A person who manifests ambiguities or con- 
tradictions of character or conduct. 
iuuic-1, '. IN a^j. riddel, ridel, redel, rudel, < 
OF. ridel, F. rideau (ML. ridellus), a curtain, 
orig. a plaited stuff, < rider, wrinkle, plait, < 
MHG. riden, wrinkle, = E. writhe : see writhe.} 
A curtain; a bed-curtain; in a church, one of 
the pair of curtains inclosing an altar on the 
nortn and south, often hung from rods driven 
into the wall. 
That was a mervelle thynge 
To se the riddels hynge 
With many red golde rynge 
That thame up bare. 
MS. Lincoln A. L 17, f. 186. (BattiweU.) 
Kudeleg rennande on ropes, red golde ryngej. 
Sir Gawayne and the Green Knight (E. E. T. 8.), L 867. 
Item ij ridelles of the same suyte, wt aungell. 
Inventory of St. Peter Cheap (Cheapside), 1431, in Jour. 
[Brit. Archffiol. Ass., XXIV. 
5. ridlen; appar. < 
, a plaited stuff. 
She could love none but only such 
As scorned and hated her as much. 
Twas a strange riddle of a lady. 
S. Butler, Hudibras, I. iii. 337. 
Great lord of all things, yet a prey to all ; 
Sole judge of truth, In endless error hurled : 
The glory, jest, and riddle of the world ! 
Pope, Essay on Man, ii. 18. 
Riddle canon. Same as enigmatical canon (which see, riddle-like (rid'1-lik), a. 
under canonix matieal ; paradoxical. 
riddle 1 (rid'l), v. ; pret. and pp. riddled, ppr. 
riddling. [= G. rdthseln, ra'tseln; from the 
noun: see riddle 1 , n.} I. trans. 1. Toexplain; 
interpret; solve; unriddle. 
c. t. 
n., in its orig. 
die 1 .} To plait. 
Lord, it was ridled f etysly ! 
Ther nas not a poynt trewely 
That it nas in his right assise. 
Rom. of the Rose, 1. 1235. 
Riddleberger Act. See act. 
riddle-cake (rid'1-kak), n. A thick sour oaten 
cake. Halliwell. 
Like a riddle ; enig- 
0, then, give pity 
To her, whose state is such that cannot choose 
But lend and give where she is sure to lose ; 
That seeks not to find that her search implies, 
But riddle-like lives sweetly where she dies ! 
Shak., All's Well, i. 3. 223. 
Riddle me this, and guess him if you can : 
Who bears a nation in a single man 1 riildlomoroo iVirl"l mn rS'\ 
Dryden, tr. of Juvenal's Satires, iii. 136. r . A' me >- ' b. 
2. To understand; make out. 
What, do you riddle me ? Is she contracted? 
And can I by your counsell attain e my wishes? 
Carlell, Deserving Favorite (1629). (Nares.) 
3. To puzzle; perplex. 
I think it will riddle him or he gets his horse over the 
Border again. Scott, Rob Roy, rviii. 
II. intrans. To speak in riddles, ambiguous- 
ly, or enigmatically. 
Lys. Lying so, Hermia, I do not lie. 
Her. Lysander riddles very prettily. 
Shale., M. N. D., U. 2. 53. 
riddle 2 (rid'l), n. [< ME. "riddel, ryddel, rydel, 
ridil, rydyl, for earlier ridder: see ridder 1 .} 1. 
A sieve, especially a coarse one for sand, grain, 
and the like. 
So this young gentleman, who had scarcely done a day's 
work in his life, made his way to the modern El Dorado 
;?,, c ,? k !. and digl an<1 wield a Pickaxe, and shake a riddle 
till his back ached. Whyte Melville, White Rose, I. xxx. 
2. In founding, a sieve with half-inch mesh, 
old floor-sand. 3. In hydraul. engin., a 
[A fanciful 
word, based on riddle, as if riddle my riddle, ex- 
plain my enigma.] Same as rigmarole. 
This style, I apprehend, Sir, is what the learned Scrib- 
lerus calls rigmarol in logic Riddlemeree among School 
boys. Junius, tetters (ed. Woodfall), II. 316. 
riddler 1 (rid'ler), n. [< riddle 1 + -er 1 .'] One 
who speaks in riddles or enigmatically. 
Each songster, riddler, every nameless name, 
All crowd, who foremost shall be damn'd to fame. 
Pope, Dunciad, iii. 157. 
riddler 2 (rid'ler), n. [< riddle* + -er 1 .} One 
who works with a riddle or sieve. 
'ling), p. a. [Ppr. of riddle 1 , v.} 
in riddles or ambiguously. 
This is a riddling merchant for the nonce ; 
He will be here, and yet he is not here : 
How can these contrarieties agree? 
Shak., 1 Hen. VI., ii. 3. 57. 
2. Having the form or character of a riddle; 
enigmatical; puzzling. 
F.very man is under that complicated disease, and that 
Donne, Sermons, v. 
ride 
He laugh'd as Is his wont, and answer'd im 
In riddling triplets of old time. 
Tenni/xiiu, Cumins; "f Arthur. 
3. Divining; Interpreting; guessing. 
Much she muz'd. yet could not construe it 
By any ridling skill, or commune wit. 
Spenser, F. Q., III. xi. 54. 
riddlingly (rid'ling-li), tidi-. In the manner of 
a riddle; enigmatically; mysteriously. 
Though, like the pestilence and old fashion'd love, 
Riddlingly it catch men. Donne, Satires, ii. 
riddlings (rid'liugz), . pi. [Pi. of riddin,,/. 
verbal n. of riddle 2 , v.} Ttie coarser part of 
anything, as grain or ashes, which is left in the 
riddle after sifting; sif tings; screenings. 
She . . . pointed to the great bock of wash, and rid- 
dlings, and brown hulkage (for we ground our own com 
always). B. D. Blackmore, Lorna Doone, xxxu. 
ride (rid), i>. ; pret. rode (formerly also rid), pp. 
ridden (formerly also rid), ppr. riding. [< ME. 
riden (pret. rod, rood, earlier rod, pi. riden, re- 
den, pp. riden), < AS. ridan (pret. rdd, pi. ridon, 
pp. riden), ride on horseback, move forward (as 
a ship or a cloud), rock (as a ship at anchor), 
swing (as one hung on a gallows), = OFries. rtrfa 
= D. rijden, ride on horseback or in a vehicle, 
slide, as on skates, = MLG. LG. riden = OHG. 
ritan, move forward, proceed, ride on horse- 
back or in a vehicle, MHG. riten, G. reiten, ride, 
= Icel. ritha = Sw. rida = Dan. ride, ride; 
orig. prob. simply 'go,' 'travel' (as in the de- 
rived nounroarf, in the general sense 'a way'); 
cf. Olr. riad, ride, move, riadami, I ride, Gaul- 
ish reda (> L. rheda, reda, rseda), a wagon. 
Hence ult. road 1 , raid, bed-ridden.} I. intrans. 
1. To be carried on the back of a horse, ass, 
mule, camel, elephant, or other animal; spe- 
cifically, to sit on and manage a horse in mo- 
tion. 
Beves an hakanai bestrit, 
And in his wei forth a n't. 
Beves of Hamtmm, p. 51. (Halliwell.) 
And yet was he, whereso men wente or riden, 
Founde on the beste. Chaucer, Troilus, i. 473. 
And lastly came cold February, sitting 
In an old wagon, for he could not ride. 
Spenser, F. Q., VII. vli. 43. 
Brutus and Cassius 
Are rid like madmen through the gates of Rome. 
Shak., J. C., lit 2. 274. 
2. To be borne along in a vehicle, or in or on 
any kind of conveyance ; be carried in or on a 
wagon, coach, car, balloon, ship, palanquin, bi- 
cycle, or the like ; hence, in general, to travel 
or make progress by means of any supporting 
and moving agency. 
So on a day, hys fadur and hee 
Redyn yn a schyppe yn the see. 
MS. Cantab. Ft. ii. 38. f. 144. (HalliweU.) 
WiseCambina, . . . 
Unto her Coch remounting, home did ride. 
Spenser, F. Q., IV. iii. 51. 
Be 't to fly, 
To swim, to dive into the flre, to ride 
On the curl'd clouds, to thy strong bidding task 
Ariel and all his quality. Shak., Tempest, I. 2. 191. 
3. To be borne in or on a fluid ; float ; specifi- 
cally, to lie at anchor. 
Thanks to Heaven's goodness, no man lost ! 
The ship rides fair, too, and her leaks in good plight. 
Fletcher (and another), Sea Voyage, L 3. 
This we found to be an He, where we rid that night. 
Capt. John Smith, Works, II. 224. 
They shall be sent in the Ship Lion, which rides here at 
Malamocco. Howell, Letters, I. i. 26. 
I walk unseen . . . 
To behold the wandering moon 
Riding near her highest noon. 
Maton, II Penseroso, 1. 68. 
4. To move on or about something. 
Strong as the axletree 
On which heaven rides. 
5Ao*.,T. andC., i. 3. 67. 
5. To be mounted and borne along; hence, to 
move triumphantly or proudly. 
Disdain and scorn ride sparkling in her eyes. 
Shak., Much Ado, iii. 1. 51. 
6t. To be carted, as a convicted bawd. 
Ill hang you both, you rascals ! 
I can but ride. Massinger, City Madam, iii. 1. 
7. To have free play; have the upper hand; 
domineer. 
A brother noble, 
... on whose foolish honesty 
My practices ride easy ! Shak., Lear, i. 2. 198. 
8. To lap or lie over: said especially of a rope 
when the part on which the strain is brought 
lies over and jams the other parts. HtiiHentli/. 
Care must be taken not to raise the headle, or headles, 
too high, or too much strain will be thrown upon the raised 
threads, and the result will be that the weft threads will 
