riffle
/ˈɹɪfəl/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.20 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A succession of small waves.
noun
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.
noun
A quick skim through the pages of a book.
noun
Example Sentences
- "They then proceeded below the milldam, where there was a strong riffle, with likely looking pools and eddies"
- "The big trout feed aggressively and tend to lose their caution in the rifles."
- "[...] Brook Drain has now been diverted into a newly dug replacement river section [...]. It has been designed in conjunction with the Environment Agency to hold a much larger volume of water, in order to help with local flooding issues. It also features riffles (shallow sections of water) and side pools where aquatic wildlife can take shelter during storms."
- "Near-synonym: rifle"
Etymology
Possible alteration of ruffle, from Middle English ruffelen, akin to Low German ruffelen (“to crumple”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: ruffelen