riddle

n. puzzle, question or statement presenting a problem to be solved; enigma, mystery; sieve, screen used for sifting

v. solve, interpret; swell up, inflate; perforate, pierce; detonate, explode

A riddle is a statement or question having a double or veiled meaning, put forth as a puzzle to be solved. Riddles are of two types: enigmas, which are problems generally expressed in metaphorical or allegorical language that require ingenuity and careful thinking for their solution, and conundra, which are questions relying for their effects on punning in either the question or the answer.
See more at Wikipedia.org...

Noun
1. a difficult problem
(synonym) conundrum, enigma, brain-teaser
(hypernym) problem
2. a coarse sieve (as for gravel)
(hypernym) sieve, screen
(derivation) screen
Verb
1. pierce many times; "The bullets riddled his body"
(hypernym) pierce
2. set a difficult problem or riddle; "riddle me a riddle"
(hypernym) perplex, vex, stick, get, puzzle, mystify, baffle, beat, pose, bewilder, flummox, stupefy, nonplus, gravel, amaze, dumbfound
(derivation) conundrum, enigma, brain-teaser
3. separate with a riddle, as grain from chaff
(synonym) screen
(hypernym) sift, sieve, strain
4. speak in riddles
(hypernym) communicate, intercommunicate
(derivation) conundrum, enigma, brain-teaser
5. explain a riddle
(hypernym) solve, work out, figure out, puzzle out, lick, work

(v. t.)
To separate, as grain from the chaff, with a riddle; to pass through a riddle; as, riddle wheat; to riddle coal or gravel.
  

(v. t.)
To perforate so as to make like a riddle; to make many holes in; as, a house riddled with shot.
  

(v. t.)
To explain; to solve; to unriddle.
  

(v. i.)
To speak ambiguously or enigmatically.
  

(n.)
Something proposed to be solved by guessing or conjecture; a puzzling question; an ambiguous proposition; an enigma; hence, anything ambiguous or puzzling.
  

(n.)
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.
  

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

a riddle; sharpness of wit