Dictionary

unriddle en · VERB

Etymology

From un- + riddle.

Meanings

1. (transitive) To figure out the answer to (a riddle).
2. (broadly, transitive) To solve (a perplexing problem).
   • 'I your Enemy, Sir!' ſays he, vvith much Amazement, and ſome Sternneſs in his Look. 'Nay, be not angry,' ſaid Benjamin, 'for I promiſe you I am not. You are perfectly innocent of having intended me any VVrong; for you vvas then an Infant; but I ſhall, I believe, unriddle all this the Moment I mention my Name. Did you never hear, Sir, of one Partridge, vvho had the honour of being reputed your Father, and the Misfortune of being ruined by that Honour?' 1749, Henry Fielding, “In which More of the Talents of Mr. Benjamin will Appear, as well as Who this Extraordinary Person was”, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume III, London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book VIII, page 186:
   • On the right hand of [a wax figure representing] Popery sat Judaism, represented by an old man embroidered with phylacteries, and distinguished by many typical figures, which I had not skill enough to unriddle. 1710 December 10 (Gregorian calendar), Isaac Bickerstaff [et al., pseudonyms; Joseph Addison; Richard Steele], “Wednesday, November 30, 1710”, in The Tatler, number 257; republished in [Richard Steele], editor, The Tatler, […], London stereotype edition, volume III, London: I. Walker and Co.; […], 1822, →OCLC, page 356:
   • It vvill be found, vvhen the Myſterie of iniquitie ſhall be unriddled, that, as they vvere their ſpavvn the Anabaptiſts, the obſtructers of our Doctrinal Reformation, ſo, they are by their Miſſionaries ſent unto Corners and Hillie Countreys the obſtructers of our practical. 1702, [John Wilson], An Essay wherein National Love and Unity is Recommended, Its Opposits Exposed, Arguments for It Propounded, and Its Standard Expounded, and All Contenders Blamed. […], Edinburgh: Printed by the heirs and successors of Andrew Anderson, […], →OCLC, page 22:

Forms

Deriveds

unriddler

Synonyms

riddle · get to the bottom of · reason out · resolve · unsolve · sleuth · ravel · think out · unriddle · unravel · decipher · iron out · riddle · puzzle out · solve · puzzle out · absolve · Any from Thesaurus:untangle · upsolve · work out · unpuzzle · unpuzzle · riddle · tease out · deduce · meliorate