Rick Rick transitive verb To heap up in ricks, as hay, etc.

Ricker Rick"er noun A stout pole for use in making a rick, or for a spar to a boat.

Ricketish Rick"et·ish adjective Rickety. [ Obsolete] Fuller.

Rickets Rick"ets noun plural [ Of uncertain origin; but confer Anglo-Saxon wrigian to bend, Dutch wrikken to shake, E. wriggle .] (Medicine) A disease which affects children, and which is characterized by a bulky head, crooked spine and limbs, depressed ribs, enlarged and spongy articular epiphyses, tumid abdomen, and short stature, together with clear and often premature mental faculties. The essential cause of the disease appears to be the nondeposition of earthy salts in the osteoid tissues. Children afflicted with this malady stand and walk unsteadily. Called also rachitis .

Rickety Rick"et·y adjective 1. Affected with rickets.

2. Feeble in the joints; imperfect; weak; shaky.

Rickrack Rick"rack` noun A kind of openwork edging made of serpentine braid.

Rickstand Rick"stand` noun A flooring or framework on which a rick is made.

Ricochet Ric`o·chet" noun [ French] A rebound or skipping, as of a ball along the ground when a gun is fired at a low angle of elevation, or of a fiat stone thrown along the surface of water.

Ricochet firing (Mil.) , the firing of guns or howitzers, usually with small charges, at an elevation of only a few degrees, so as to cause the balls or shells to bound or skip along the ground.

Ricochet Ric`o·chet" transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Ricochetted ; present participle & verbal noun Ricochetting .] To operate upon by ricochet firing. See Ricochet , noun [ R.]

Ricochet Ric`o·chet" intransitive verb To skip with a rebound or rebounds, as a flat stone on the surface of water, or a cannon ball on the ground. See Ricochet , noun

Rictal Ric"tal adjective (Zoology) Of or pertaining to the rictus; as, rictal bristles.

Ricture Ric"ture noun [ Latin ringi , rictus , to open wide the mouth, to gape.] A gaping. [ Obsolete]

Rictus Ric"tus noun [ Latin , the aperture of the mouth.] The gape of the mouth, as of birds; -- often resricted to the corners of the mouth.

Rid Rid imperfect & past participle of Ride , intransitive verb [ Archaic]

He rid to the end of the village, where he alighted.

Thackeray.

Rid Rid transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Rid or Ridded ; present participle & verbal noun Ridding .] [ Middle English ridden , redden , Anglo-Saxon hreddan to deliver, liberate; akin to D. & LG. redden , German retten , Danish redde , Swedish rädda , and perhaps to Sanskrit ...rath to loosen.] 1. To save; to rescue; to deliver; -- with out of . [ Obsolete]

Deliver the poor and needy; rid them out of the hand of the wicked.

Ps. lxxxii. 4.

2. To free; to clear; to disencumber; -- followed by of . " Rid all the sea of pirates." Shak.

In never ridded myself of an overmastering and brooding sense of some great calamity traveling toward me.

De Quincey.

3. To drive away; to remove by effort or violence; to make away with; to destroy. [ Obsolete]

I will red evil beasts out of the land.

Lev. xxvi. 6.

Death's men, you have rid this sweet young prince!

Shak.

4. To get over; to dispose of; to dispatch; to finish. [ R.] "Willingness rids way." Shak.

Mirth will make us rid ground faster than if thieves were at our tails.

J. Webster.

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 Rid"a·ble adjective Suitable for riding; as, a ridable horse; a ridable road.

Riddance Rid"dance noun 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 Rid"den past participle of Ride.

Ridder Rid"der noun One who, or that which, rids.

Riddle Rid"dle noun [ Middle English ridil , Anglo-Saxon hridder ; akin to German reiter , Latin cribrum , and to Greek ......... to distinguish, separate, and German 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 Rid"dle transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Riddled ; present participle & verbal noun 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 Rid"dle noun [ For riddels , s being misunderstood as the plural ending; Middle English ridels , redels . Anglo-Saxon r...dels; akin to Dutch raadsel , German räthsel ; from Anglo-Saxon r...dan to counsel or advise, also, to guess. √116. Confer 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 Rid"dle transitive verb To explain; to solve; to unriddle.

Riddle me this, and guess him if you can.

Dryden.

Riddle Rid"dle intransitive verb To speak ambiguously or enigmatically. "Lysander riddels very prettily." Shak.

Riddler Rid"dler noun One who riddles (grain, sand, etc.).

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

Riddling Rid"dling adjective Speaking in a riddle or riddles; containing a riddle. " Riddling triplets." Tennyson. -- Rid"dling , adverb

Ride Ride (rīd) intransitive verb [ imperfect Rode (rōd) ( Rid [ rĭd], archaic); past participle Ridden ( Rid , archaic); present participle & verbal noun Riding ] [ Anglo-Saxon rīdan ; akin to LG. riden , Dutch rijden , German reiten , Old High German rītan , Icelandic rīša , Swedish rida , Danish ride ; confer Latin raeda a carriage, which is from a Celtic word. Confer 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 (Nautical) , to lie at anchor without violent pitching or straining at the cables. -- To ride hard (Nautical) , to pitch violently. -- To ride out . (a) To go upon a military expedition. [ Obsolete] 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 Ride transitive verb 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) (Nautical) To bear down, as on a halyard when hoisting a sail. -- To ride out (Nautical) , 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.

Ride Ride noun 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.

Rideau Ri·deau" (re*dō") noun [ French] A small mound of earth; ground slightly elevated; a small ridge.

Riden Rid"en (rīd"'n), obsolete imperfect plural & past participle of Ride . Chaucer.

Rident Ri"dent (rī"d e nt) adjective [ Latin ridens , present participle of ridere to laugh.] Laughing. [ R.] Thackeray.

Rider Rid"er (rīd"ẽr) noun 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. [ Dutch 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 beams of the lower deck, to strengthen her frame. Totten.

9. (Nautical) 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. [ Obsolete or Prov. Eng.] Drummond.

Rider's bone (Medicine) , 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 Rid"er·less adjective Having no rider; as, a riderless horse. H. Kingsley.

Ridge Ridge noun [ Middle English rigge the back, Anglo-Saxon hrycg ; akin to Dutch rug , German rūcken , Old High German rucki , hrukki , Icelandic hryggr , Swedish rugg , Danish ryg . √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. (Architecture) 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 Ridge transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Ridged ; present participle & verbal noun 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 Ridge"band` noun The part of a harness which passes over the saddle, and supports the shafts of a cart; -- called also ridgerope , and ridger . Halliwell.

Ridgebone Ridge"bone` noun The backbone. [ Obsolete]

Blood . . . lying cluttered about the ridgebone .

Holland.

Ridgel Ridg"el noun (Zoology) Same as Ridgelling .

Ridgelet Ridge"let noun A little ridge.

Ridgeling Ridge"ling noun [ Prov. English riggilt , riggot , ananimal half castrated, a sheep having only one testicle; confer Prov. German rigel , rig , a barrow hog, rigler a cock half castrated.] (Zoology) A half-castrated male animal.

Ridgepiece, Ridgeplate Ridge"piece`, Ridge"plate` noun See Ridgepole .

Ridgepole Ridge"pole` noun (Architecture) The timber forming the ridge of a roof, into which the rafters are secured.

Ridgerope Ridge"rope` noun (Nautical) See Life line (a) , under Life .

Ridgingly Ridg"ing·ly adverb So as to form ridges.

Ridgy Ridg"y adjective Having a ridge or ridges; rising in a ridge. "Lifted on a ridgy wave." Pope.

Ridicle Rid"i·cle noun Ridicule. [ Obsolete] Foxe.

Ridicule Rid"i·cule noun [ French ridicule , Latin ridiculum a jest, from 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. [ Obsolete]

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 Rid"i·cule transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Ridiculed ; present participle & verbal noun 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 .

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