as in to flip
to turn over pages in an idle or cursory manner
Web research is convenient but doesn't offer the tactile pleasures of riffling through heavy old books
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Recent Examples of riffle
Chris Malloy, Condé Nast Traveler, 8 June 2020
To simulate clapping, kids could be hired to ride their bikes around the cart paths, with playing cards clipped to the bike frames to riffle in the spokes.
—Scott Ostler, SFChronicle.com, 16 May 2020
Joe Cermele, Field & Stream, 14 Mar. 2024
Beneath our breathy hollers, a river runs dark, sprays of pebble -leaping riffles instantly aloft: Corona crowns the south: Hole edged with brimming sprays of light!
—Christopher Cokinos, Scientific American, 1 Mar. 2020
See all Example Sentences for riffle 
Verb
Two Guns spread through madly riffling brush, the path crunching under my hiking boots going uphill.
—Chris Malloy, Condé Nast Traveler, 8 June 2020
To simulate clapping, kids could be hired to ride their bikes around the cart paths, with playing cards clipped to the bike frames to riffle in the spokes.
—Scott Ostler, SFChronicle.com, 16 May 2020
Noun
Why: Rainbows spawn in the spring as soon as the water temperature breaks 40 degrees, often making redds in the riffles above pools.
—Joe Cermele, Field & Stream, 14 Mar. 2024
Beneath our breathy hollers, a river runs dark, sprays of pebble -leaping riffles instantly aloft: Corona crowns the south: Hole edged with brimming sprays of light!
—Christopher Cokinos, Scientific American, 1 Mar. 2020
See all Example Sentences for riffle
Recent Examples of Synonyms for riffle
Verb
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Presto, Mahomes and the Chiefs flipped the script from out of the danger zone into taking charge.—
Vahe Gregorian,
Kansas City Star,
19 Jan. 2025
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Cars were flipped over, traffic lights and lamp posts were torn down, and there were even unconfirmed reports of explosions.—
Jackson Thompson,
Fox News,
18 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Does the little surge of Trump dances across sports represent a wave, or at least a wavelet, of athletes declaring their allegiances for the President-elect?—
Louisa Thomas,
The New Yorker,
24 Nov. 2024
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And importantly, the agency says, despite these wavelets of illness, severe outcomes like hospitalizations and deaths have been dropping since 2020 and 2021.—
Brenda Goodman,
CNN,
1 Mar. 2024
Verb
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This is because of the increasing demands for networking and switches to connect exponentially larger clusters, from spine to leaf in the front end and back end, rack to rack and accelerator to accelerator.—
Beth Kindig,
Forbes,
19 Dec. 2024
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Such a cacophony means that the reader keeps having to leaf back to make sense of the storyline.—
Ruth Margalit,
The New York Review of Books,
30 Mar. 2023
Noun
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The actress styled her natural gray hair in voluminous curls and her makeup featured a smokey eye and hint of a pink lip.—
Julia Teti,
WWD,
24 Jan. 2025
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Pattern Hydration Shampoo brings life back to dry, thirsty curls.—
Erin Parker,
Allure,
22 Jan. 2025
Verb
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For any of us thumbing anxiously through our social media feeds right now, similar words have become as familiar as sunrise, and so have the actions backing them.—
Bill Addison,
Los Angeles Times,
18 Jan. 2025
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Boston Rob explains taking that huge Deal or No Deal Island gamble Even after 25 years, there are still people in Hollywood who thumb their nose at the reality competition genre.—
Dalton Ross,
EW.com,
6 Jan. 2025
Noun
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According to a Metropolitan Police press release, the anonymous victim — who asked police to release CCTV footage of the attack — had planned to attend a roller skating event in the Greater London town of Harrow on February 10, 2024.—
Abby Monteil,
Them,
17 Jan. 2025
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The ship also has bumper cars, roller skating, the aforementioned waterslides, two chocolate shops, on-demand cupcakes, and numerous other amenities for kids and teens.—
Elizabeth Heath,
Travel + Leisure,
17 Jan. 2025
Verb
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California has seen an increase in card skimming over the past few years, with fraudulent activity popping up across the state.—
Fernanda Galan,
Sacramento Bee,
13 Jan. 2025
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The best way to avoid falling victim to a skimming operation is to check any point-of-sale terminal before inserting your credit or debit card.—
Shaun Goodwin,
Idaho Statesman,
7 Jan. 2025
Noun
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In the scope was one of the many tiny fish bones that were found that day, probably belonging to a small comber or a wrasse.—
Paul Greenberg,
Smithsonian Magazine,
21 Dec. 2022
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The destructive combers continued to undermine dwellings near the water’s edge at West Newport Beach.—
Scott Harrison,
Los Angeles Times,
4 Sep. 2019
Thesaurus Entries Near riffle
Cite this Entry
“Riffle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/riffle. Accessed 28 Jan. 2025.
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