Chapter 1347

To be rid of , to be free or delivered from. -- To get rid of , to get deliverance from; to free one's self from.

Ridable <Xpage=1240>

Rid"a*ble (?) , a. Suitable for riding; as, a ridable horse; a ridable road.

Riddance <Xpage=1240>

Rid"dance (?) , n. 1. The act of ridding or freeing; deliverance; a cleaning up or out.

Thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field. Lev. xxiii. 22.

2. The state of being rid or free; freedom; escape. " Riddance from all adversity."

Hooker.

Ridden <Xpage=1240>

Rid"den (?) , p. p. of Ride.

Ridder <Xpage=1240>

Rid"der (?) , n. One who, or that which, rids.

Riddle <Xpage=1240>

Rid"dle (?) , n. [OE. ridil , AS. hridder ; akin to G. reiter , L. cribrum , and to Gr. <?/<?/<?/ to distinguish, separate, and G. rein clean. See Crisis , Certain .] 1. A sieve with coarse meshes, usually of wire, for separating coarser materials from finer, as chaff from grain, cinders from ashes, or gravel from sand.

2. A board having a row of pins, set zigzag, between which wire is drawn to straighten it.

Riddle <Xpage=1240>

Rid"dle , v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Riddled (?) ; p. pr. & vb. n. Riddling (?) .] 1. To separate, as grain from the chaff, with a riddle; to pass through a riddle; as, riddle wheat; to riddle coal or gravel .

2. To perforate so as to make like a riddle; to make many holes in; as, a house riddled with shot .

Riddle <Xpage=1240>

Rid"dle , n. [For riddels , s being misunderstood as the plural ending; OE. ridels , redels . AS. r<?/dels; akin to D. raadsel , G. r\'84thsel ; fr. AS. r<?/dan to counsel or advise, also, to guess. &root;116. Cf. Read .] Something proposed to be solved by guessing or conjecture; a puzzling question; an ambiguous proposition; an enigma; hence, anything ambiguous or puzzling.

To wring from me, and tell to them, my secret, That solved the riddle which I had proposed. Milton.

'T was a strange riddle of a lady. Hudibras.

Riddle <Xpage=1240>

Rid"dle , v. t. To explain; to solve; to unriddle.

Riddle me this, and guess him if you can. Dryden.

Riddle <Xpage=1240>

Rid"dle , v. i. To speak ambiguously or enigmatically. "Lysander riddels very prettily."

Shak.

Riddler <Xpage=1240>

Rid"dler (?) , n. One who riddles (grain, sand, etc.).

Riddler <Xpage=1240>

Rid"dler , n. One who speaks in, or propounds, riddles.

Riddling <Xpage=1240>

Rid"dling (?) , a. Speaking in a riddle or riddles; containing a riddle. " Riddling triplets." Tennyson . -- Rid"dling , adv.

Ride <Xpage=1240>

Ride (?) , v. i. [ imp. Rode (r&omac;d) ( Rid [r&icr;d], archaic ); p. p. Ridden (<?/) ( Rid , archaic ); p. pr. & vb. n. Riding (<?/) .] [AS. r\'c6dan ; akin to LG. riden , D. rijden , G. reiten , OHG. r\'c6tan , Icel. r\'c6&edh;a , Sw. rida , Dan. ride ; cf. L. raeda a carriage, which is from a Celtic word. Cf. Road .] 1. To be carried on the back of an animal, as a horse.

To-morrow, when ye riden by the way. Chaucer.

Let your master ride on before, and do you gallop after him. Swift.

2. To be borne in a carriage; as, to ride in a coach, in a car, and the like . See Synonym, below.

The richest inhabitants exhibited their wealth, not by riding in gilden carriages, but by walking the streets with trains of servants. Macaulay.

3. To be borne or in a fluid; to float; to lie.

Men once walked where ships at anchor ride . Dryden.

4. To be supported in motion; to rest.

Strong as the exletree On which heaven rides . Shak.

On whose foolish honesty My practices ride easy! Shak.

5. To manage a horse, as an equestrian.

He rode , he fenced, he moved with graceful ease. Dryden.

6. To support a rider, as a horse; to move under the saddle; as, a horse rides easy or hard, slow or fast .

To ride easy (Naut.) , to lie at anchor without violent pitching or straining at the cables. -- To ride hard (Naut.) , to pitch violently. -- To ride out . (a) To go upon a military expedition. [Obs.] Chaucer . (b) To ride in the open air. [Colloq.] -- To ride to hounds , to ride behind, and near to, the hounds in hunting.

Syn. -- Drive. -- Ride , Drive . Ride originally meant (and is so used throughout the English Bible) to be carried on horseback or in a vehicle of any kind. At present in England, drive is the word applied in most cases to progress in a carriage; as, a drive around the park, etc.; while ride is appropriated to progress on a horse. Johnson seems to sanction this distinction by giving "to travel on horseback" as the leading sense of ride ; though he adds "to travel in a vehicle" as a secondary sense. This latter use of the word still occurs to some extent; as, the queen rides to Parliament in her coach of state; to ride in an omnibus.

"Will you ride over or drive ?" said Lord Willowby to his quest, after breakfast that morning. W. Black.

Ride <Xpage=1240>

Ride , v. t. 1. To sit on, so as to be carried; as, to ride a horse; to ride a bicycle.

[They] rend up both rocks and hills, and ride the air In whirlwind. Milton.

2. To manage insolently at will; to domineer over.

The nobility could no longer endure to be ridden by bakers, cobblers, and brewers. Swift.

3. To convey, as by riding; to make or do by riding.

Tue only men that safe can ride Mine errands on the Scottish side. Sir W. Scott.

4. (Surg.) To overlap (each other); -- said of bones or fractured fragments.

To ride a hobby , to have some favorite occupation or subject of talk. -- To ride and tie , to take turn with another in labor and rest; -- from the expedient adopted by two persons with one horse, one of whom rides the animal a certain distance, and then ties him for the use of the other, who is coming up on foot. Fielding . -- To ride down . (a) To ride over; to trample down in riding; to overthrow by riding against; as, to ride down an enemy . (b) (Naut.) To bear down, as on a halyard when hoisting a sail. -- To ride out (Naut.) , to keep safe afloat during (a storm) while riding at anchor or when hove to on the open sea; as, to ride out the gale . <-- to ride the lightning , (Colloq.) to be executed by electrocution in an electric chair. -->

Ride <Xpage=1240>

Ride , n. 1. The act of riding; an excursion on horseback or in a vehicle.

2. A saddle horse. [Prov. Eng.]

Wright.

3. A road or avenue cut in a wood, or through grounds, to be used as a place for riding; a riding.

Ridean <Xpage=1240>

Ri*dean" (?) , n. [F.] A small mound of earth; ground slightly elevated; a small ridge.

Riden <Xpage=1240>

Rid"en (?) , obs. imp. pl. & p. p. of Ride .

Chaucer.

Rident <Xpage=1240>

Ri"dent (?) , a. [L. ridens , p. pr. of ridere to laugh.] Laughing. [R.]

Thackeray.

Rider <Xpage=1240>

Rid"er (?) , n. 1. One who, or that which, rides.

2. Formerly, an agent who went out with samples of goods to obtain orders; a commercial traveler. [Eng.]

3. One who breaks or manages a horse.

Shak.

4. An addition or amendment to a manuscript or other document, which is attached on a separate piece of paper; in legislative practice, an additional clause annexed to a bill while in course of passage; something extra or burdensome that is imposed.

After the third reading, a foolish man stood up to propose a rider . Macaulay.

This [question] was a rider which Mab found difficult to answer. A. S. Hardy.

5. (Math.) A problem of more than usual difficulty added to another on an examination paper.

6. [D. rijder .] A Dutch gold coin having the figure of a man on horseback stamped upon it.

His moldy money ! half a dozen riders . J. Fletcher.

7. (Mining) Rock material in a vein of ore, dividing it.

8. (Shipbuilding) An interior rib occasionally fixed in a ship's hold, reaching from the keelson to the beame of the lower deck, to strengthen her frame.

Totten.

9. (Naut.) The second tier of casks in a vessel's hold.

10. A small forked weight which straddles the beam of a balance, along which it can be moved in the manner of the weight on a steelyard.

11. A robber. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.]

Drummond.

Rider's bone (Med.) , a bony deposit in the muscles of the upper and inner part of the thigh, due to the pressure and irritation caused by the saddle in riding.

Riderless <Xpage=1240>

Rid"er*less , a. Having no rider; as, a riderless horse .

H. Kingsley.

Ridge <Xpage=1240>

Ridge (?) , n. [OE. rigge the back, AS. hrycg ; akin to D. rug , G. r\'9acken , OHG. rucki , hrukki , Icel. hryggr , Sw. rugg , Dan. ryg . &root;16.] 1. The back, or top of the back; a crest.

Hudibras.

2. A range of hills or mountains, or the upper part of such a range; any extended elevation between valleys. "The frozen ridges of the Alps."

Shak.

Part rise crystal wall, or ridge direct. Milton.

3. A raised line or strip, as of ground thrown up by a plow or left between furrows or ditches, or as on the surface of metal, cloth, or bone, etc.

4. (Arch.) The intersection of two surface forming a salient angle, especially the angle at the top between the opposite slopes or sides of a roof or a vault.

5. (Fort.) The highest portion of the glacis proceeding from the salient angle of the covered way.

Stocqueler.

Ridge <Xpage=1240>

Ridge , v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Ridged (?) ; p. pr. & vb. n. Ridging .] 1. To form a ridge of; to furnish with a ridge or ridges; to make into a ridge or ridges.

Bristles ranged like those that ridge the back Of chafed wild boars. Milton.

2. To form into ridges with the plow, as land.

3. To wrinkle. "With a forehead ridged ."

Cowper.

Ridgeband <Xpage=1240>

Ridge"band` (?) , n. The part of a harness which passes over the saddle, and supports the shafts of a cart; -- called also ridgerope , and ridger .

Halliwell.

Ridgebone <Xpage=1240>

Ridge"bone` (?) , n. The backbone. [Obs.]

Blood . . . lying cluttered about the ridgebone . Holland.

Ridgel <Xpage=1240>

Ridg"el (?) , n. (Zo\'94l.) Same as Ridgelling .

Ridgelet <Xpage=1240>

Ridge"let (?) , n. A little ridge.

Ridgeling <Xpage=1240>

Ridge"ling (?) , n. [Prov. E. riggilt , riggot , ananimal half castrated, a sheep having only one testicle; cf. Prov. G. rigel , rig , a barrow hog, rigler a cock half castrated.] (Zo\'94l.) A half-castrated male animal.

Ridgepiece, Ridgeplate <Xpage=1240>

Ridge"piece` (?) , Ridge"plate` (?) , n. See Ridgepole .

Ridgepole <Xpage=1240>

Ridge"pole` (?) , n. (Arch.) The timber forming the ridge of a roof, into which the rafters are secured.

Ridgerope <Xpage=1240>

Ridge"rope` (?) , n. (Naut.) See Life line (a) , under Life .

Ridgingly <Xpage=1240>

Ridg"ing*ly (?) , adv. So as to form ridges.

Ridgy <Xpage=1240>

Ridg"y (?) , a. Having a ridge or ridges; rising in a ridge. "Lifted on a ridgy wave."

Pope.

Ridicle <Xpage=1240>

Rid"i*cle (?) , n. Ridicule. [Obs.]

Foxe.

Ridicule <Xpage=1240>

Rid"i*cule (?) , n. [F. ridicule , L. ridiculum a jest, fr. ridiculus . See Ridiculous .] 1. An object of sport or laughter; a laughingstock; a laughing matter.

[Marlborough] was so miserably ignorant, that his deficiencies made him the ridicule of his contemporaries. Buckle.

To the people . . . but a trifle, to the king but a ridicule . Foxe.

2. Remarks concerning a subject or a person designed to excite laughter with a degree of contempt; wit of that species which provokes contemptuous laughter; disparagement by making a person an object of laughter; banter; -- a term lighter than derision .

We have in great measure restricted the meaning of ridicule , which would properly extend over whole region of the ridiculous, -- the laughable, -- and we have narrowed it so that in common usage it mostly corresponds to "derision", which does indeed involve personal and offensive feelings. Hare.

Safe from the bar, the pulpit, and the throne, Yet touched and shamed by ridicule alone. Pope.

3. Quality of being ridiculous; ridiculousness. [Obs.]

To see the ridicule of this practice. Addison.

Syn. -- Derision; banter; raillery; burlesque; mockery; irony; satire; sarcasm; gibe; jeer; sneer. -- Ridicule , Derision , Both words imply disapprobation; but ridicule usually signifies good-natured, fun-loving opposition without manifest malice, while derision is commonly bitter and scornful, and sometimes malignant. <-- ridicule is now usually malicious. RIbbing or kidding is good-natured -->

Ridicule <Xpage=1240>

Rid"i*cule , v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Ridiculed (?) ; p. pr. & vb. n. Ridiculing .] To laugh at mockingly or disparagingly; to awaken ridicule toward or respecting.

I 've known the young, who ridiculed his rage. Goldsmith.

Syn. -- To deride; banter; rally; burlesque; mock; satirize; lampoon. See Deride .

<page="1241"> Page 1241

Ridicule <Xpage=1241>

Rid"i*cule (?) , a. [F.] Ridiculous. [Obs.]

This action . . . became so ridicule . Aubrey.

Ridiculer <Xpage=1241>

Rid"i*cu`ler (?) , n. One who ridicules.

Ridiculize <Xpage=1241>

Ri*dic"u*lize (?) , v. t. To make ridiculous; to ridicule. [Obs.]

Chapman.

Ridiculosity <Xpage=1241>

Ri*dic`u*los"i*ty (?) , n. The quality or state of being ridiculous; ridiculousness; also, something ridiculous. [Archaic]

Bailey.

Ridiculous <Xpage=1241>

Ri*dic"u*lous (?) , a. [L. ridiculosus , ridiculus , fr. ridere to laigh. Cf. Risible .] 1. Fitted to excite ridicule; absurd and laughable; unworthy of serious consideration; as, a ridiculous dress or behavior .

Agricola, discerning that those little targets and unwieldy glaives ill pointed would soon become ridiculous against the thrust and close, commanded three Batavian cohorts . . . to draw up and come to handy strokes. Milton.

2. Involving or expressing ridicule. [r.]

[It] provokes me to ridiculous smiling. Shak.

Syn. -- Ludicrous; laughable; risible; droll; comical; absurd; preposterous. See Ludicrous .

--- Ri*dic"u*lous*ly , adv. -- Ri*dic"u*lous*ness , n.

Riding <Xpage=1241>

Rid"ing (?) , n. [For thriding , Icel. pr<?/jungr the third part, fr. pri<?/i third, akin to E. third . See Third .] One of the three jurisdictions into which the county of York, in England, is divided; -- formerly under the government of reeve. They are called the North , the East , and the West , Riding .

Blackstone.

Riding <Xpage=1241>

Rid"ing , a. 1. Employed to travel; traveling; as, a riding clerk . "One riding apparitor."

Ayliffe.

2. Used for riding on; as, a riding horse .

3. Used for riding, or when riding; devoted to riding; as, a riding whip; a riding habit; a riding day.

Riding clerk . (a) A clerk who traveled for a commercial house . [Obs. Eng.] (b) One of the "six clerks" formerly attached to the English Court of Chancery. -- Riding hood . (a) A hood formerly worn by women when riding . (b) A kind of cloak with a hood. -- Riding master , an instructor in horsemanship. -- Riding rhyme (Pros.) , the meter of five accents, with couplet rhyme; -- probably so called from the mounted pilgrims described in the Canterbury Tales. Dr. Guest . -- Riding school , a school or place where the art of riding is taught.

Riding <Xpage=1241>

Rid"ing , n. 1. The act or state of one who rides.

2. A festival procession. [Obs.]

When there any riding was in Cheap. Chaucer.

3. Same as Ride , n. , 3.

Sir P. Sidney.

4. A district in charge of an excise officer. [Eng.]

Ridotto <Xpage=1241>

Ri*dot"to (?) , n. [It., fr. LL. reductus a retreat. See Redoubt .] A favorite Italian public entertainment, consisting of music and dancing, -- held generally on fast eves.

Brande & C.

There are to be ridottos at guinea tickets. Walpole.

Ridotto <Xpage=1241>

Ri*dot"to , v. i. To hold ridottos. [R.]

J. G. Cooper.

Rie <Xpage=1241>

Rie (?) , n. See Rye . [Obs.]

Holland.

Rie grass . (Bot.) (a) A kind of wild barley ( Hordeum pratense ) . Dr. Prior . (b) Ray grass. Dr. Prior .

Rief <Xpage=1241>

Rief (?) , n. [See Reave .] Robbery. [Obs. or Scot.]

Rietboc <Xpage=1241>

Riet"boc (?) , n. [D. riet reed + bok buck.] (Zo\'94l.) The reedbuck, a South African antelope ( Cervicapra arundinacea ); -- so called from its frequenting dry places covered with high grass or reeds. Its color is yellowish brown. Called also inghalla , and rietbok .

Rife <Xpage=1241>

Rife (?) , a. [AS. r\'c6f abundant, or Icel. r\'c6fr munificent; akin to OD. riff , rijve , abundant.] 1. Prevailing; prevalent; abounding.

Before the plague of London, inflammations of the lungs were rife and mortal. Arbuthnot.

Even now the tumult of loud mirth Was rife , and perfect in may listening ear. Milton.

2. Having power; active; nimble. [Obs.]