riffle
to turn hastily; flutter and shift: to riffle a stack of letters; to riffle through a book.
Cards. to shuffle by dividing the deck in two, raising the corners slightly, and allowing them to fall alternately together.
to cause or become a riffle.
a rapid, as in a stream.
a ripple, as upon the surface of water.
Mining. the lining of transverse bars or slats on the bed of a sluice, arranged so as to catch heavy minerals, as gold or platinum.
a hopper for distributing bulk material.
the act or method of riffling cards.
Origin of riffle
1Other words from riffle
- un·rif·fled, adjective
Words that may be confused with riffle
- riffle , rifle
Words Nearby riffle
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use riffle in a sentence
The river was low, but not fordable except at Coxe's riffle, a few miles below Steubenville.
We might have made the riffle, I guess, if Denny hadn't played out and tumbled from his saddle.
Motor Matt's Mystery | Stanley R. MatthewsHe watched the two Lhari riffle through his papers with their odd pointed claws.
The Colors of Space | Marion Zimmer Bradleyriffle—A groove or strip to catch gold and mercury in a sluice.
The A B C of Mining | Charles A. BrambleI'll go in just below the riffle and explore the cellar-hole!
The Hero of Manila | Rossiter Johnson
British Dictionary definitions for riffle
/ (ˈrɪfəl) /
(when intr , often foll by through) to flick rapidly through (the pages of a book, magazine, etc), esp in a desultory manner
to shuffle (playing cards) by halving the pack and flicking the adjacent corners together
to make or become a riffle
US and Canadian
a rapid in a stream
a rocky shoal causing a rapid
a ripple on water
mining a contrivance on the bottom of a sluice, containing transverse grooves for trapping particles of gold
the act or an instance of riffling
Origin of riffle
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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