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riffle

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riffle¹

  • /ˈɹɪfəl/

Rhymes with -ɪfəl

Where it comes from

Possible alteration of ruffle, from Middle English ruffelen, akin to Low German ruffelen (“to crumple”).

noun riffles

  1. 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 eddies
  2. A succession of small waves.
  3. 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.
  4. A quick skim through the pages of a book.
  5. Synonym of riffle shuffle

    Similar: riffle shuffle

  6. The sound made while shuffling cards.

verb riffles · riffling · riffled

  1. intransitive To flow over a swift, shallow part of a stream.
  2. transitive To ruffle with a rippling action.
  3. intransitive To skim or flick through the pages of a book.
  4. transitive To leaf through rapidly. Near-synonym: rifle

    Similar: rifle

  5. transitive 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.
  6. transitive To idly manipulate objects with the fingers.
  7. transitive To prepare samples of material using a riffler.

riffle²

  • /ˈɹɪfəl/

Rhymes with -ɪfəl

Where it comes from

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”).

noun riffles

  1. In seal engraving, a small metal disc at the end of a tool.

Riffle³

proper noun Riffles

  1. A surname.

Translations

Every language

noun swift, shallow part of a stream causing broken water

Русскийперекат perekát

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Cite this
MLA

"riffle." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/riffle. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

riffle. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/riffle

Chicago

"riffle." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/riffle.

BibTeX
@misc{riffle_2026,
  title = {riffle},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/riffle},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}