riffle
/ˈɹɪfəl/
riffle noun: a swift, shallow part of a stream causing broken water.
Noun (1)
riffle (plural riffles)
- A swift, shallow part of a stream causing broken water.
- They then proceeded below the milldam, where there was a strong riffle, with likely looking pools and eddies1903, James Alexander Henshall, Bass, Pike, Perch and other Game Fishes of America
- The big trout feed aggressively and tend to lose their caution in the rifles.2017, Bill Barich, “On the Glories of Autumn”, in California Fly Fisher
- A succession of small waves.
- A trough or sluice having cleats, grooves, or steps across the bottom for holding quicksilver and catching particles of gold when auriferous earth is washed. Also one of the cleats, grooves or steps in such trough.
- A quick skim through the pages of a book.
- Synonym of riffle shuffle
- Synonyms:
- riffle shuffle
- The sound made while shuffling cards.
Verb
riffle (third-person singular simple present riffles, present participle riffling, simple past and past participle riffled)
- To flow over a swift, shallow part of a stream.
- To ruffle with a rippling action.
- To skim or flick through the pages of a book.
- To leaf through rapidly.
- Near-synonym: rifle
- Synonyms:
- rifle
- To shuffle playing cards by separating the deck in two and sliding the thumbs along the edges of the cards to mix the two parts.
- To idly manipulate objects with the fingers.
- To prepare samples of material using a riffler.
Noun (2)
riffle (plural riffles)
Proper noun capitalized: Riffle
Riffle (plural Riffles)
- A surname.
Synonyms of riffle
Forms of riffle
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | riffles |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | riffles |
| present participle | riffling |
| past participle | riffled |
| past | riffled |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Riffles |
Origin of riffle
Possible alteration of ruffle, from Middle English ruffelen, akin to Low German ruffelen (“to crumple”).
From Danish [Term?] (“a groove”). Compare rifle (“to score, to make grooves”) and the past participle riflet (“scored, grooved, rifled”), riffeln with the same meaning. Also see rifle (“a rifled gun”).
Words formed from riffle
- riffler
- cheater riffle
- make the riffle
- riffle beetle
- riffle bug
- riffle shuffle
- riffly
Phrases with riffle
Words that rhyme with riffle
Questions about riffle
- What does riffle mean?
- Riffle means a swift, shallow part of a stream causing broken water.
- What part of speech is riffle?
- Riffle can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce riffle?
- Riffle is pronounced /ˈɹɪfəl/.
- What is the plural of riffle?
- The plural of riffle is riffles.
Words near riffle in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: riffle (page history and authors); Riffle (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-riffle.wav.
Cite this entry: “riffle.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/riffle. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.