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
Stefan Krajisnik, USA TODAY, 20 July 2023
Keep reading to check out more weekend deals, or head straight to Amazon to riffle through everything else that's on sale right now.
—Amy Schulman, PEOPLE.com, 6 May 2022
Max Inchausti, Field & Stream, 12 June 2024
Sandbars and rock bars and gravel bars could be broken down into a full taxonomy describing their size and shape and orientation: chains and traps, riffles and reefs.
—Boyce Upholt, Smithsonian Magazine, 11 June 2024
See All Example Sentences for riffle
Verb
Highlight reels of 13 SEC quarterbacks Milton was the talk of the offseason after riffling passes longer than 70 yards at the Manning Passing Academy in June.
—Stefan Krajisnik, USA TODAY, 20 July 2023
Keep reading to check out more weekend deals, or head straight to Amazon to riffle through everything else that's on sale right now.
—Amy Schulman, PEOPLE.com, 6 May 2022
Noun
On the water, target current breaks, pools, and deep riffles where trout will wait and ambush their food.
—Max Inchausti, Field & Stream, 12 June 2024
Sandbars and rock bars and gravel bars could be broken down into a full taxonomy describing their size and shape and orientation: chains and traps, riffles and reefs.
—Boyce Upholt, Smithsonian Magazine, 11 June 2024
See All Example Sentences for riffle
Recent Examples of Synonyms for riffle
Verb
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In fact, Bivens flipped for the FBI as a cooperating witness a few days before Pino killed himself, playing a critical role in solidifying the feds’ case.—
Jay Weaver,
Miami Herald,
12 June 2025
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The Baloncesto Superior Nacional league announced Tuesday that Cousins was kicked off the Mets de Guaynabo after a vile gesture toward a fan, grabbing his genitals to mock the fan as the fan flipped both his middle fingers.—
Scott Thompson,
FOXNews.com,
11 June 2025
Noun
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Its wavelets lap enticingly at our feet, but the breaker that might truly knock the breath out of us never comes.—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
23 Apr. 2025
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For example, complex analysis is used to manipulate wavelets, or small oscillations in data.—
William Ross,
The Conversation,
10 Mar. 2025
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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Sweeney topped it off with dark angular sunglasses, and her blonde hair in loose, blown out curls.—
Anna Cafolla,
Vogue,
4 June 2025
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The drawing featured a bald-headed stick woman with squiggly lines coming from the ears—meant to represent curls.—
Lucy Notarantonio,
MSNBC Newsweek,
4 June 2025
Verb
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The Savannah Bananas thumbed their nose at such nonsense.—
Emma Moon,
Charlotte Observer,
5 June 2025
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The Manchester-by-the-Sea health board has thumbed its nose at voters with callous indifference.—
Peter Brennan,
Boston Herald,
26 May 2025
Noun
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The same note applies to those with bangs—spray at the root and then style, whether that’s using a round brush and blow-dryer or setting with a Velcro roller.—
Lisa DeSantis,
Glamour,
2 June 2025
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Rock ‘n’ rollers went dancing to the band that played Janis Joplin and Grace Slick hits in the Rolling Stone Rock Club, while others listened to Billy Joel and Elton John covers at the Billboard Onboard piano bar.—
Fran Golden,
AFAR Media,
29 May 2025
Verb
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After reenacting the initial district court trial — in which Colvin, Browder, McDonald and Smith testified—the opera skims over the Supreme Court decision upholding the ruling.—
Hannah Edgar,
Chicago Tribune,
7 June 2025
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Baltimore Fire Chief James Wallace said crews deployed containment booms and began skimming the water almost immediately, working to isolate and extract the diesel fuel, which contains a red dye.—
Barney Henderson,
MSNBC Newsweek,
5 June 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
Cite this Entry
“Riffle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/riffle. Accessed 15 Jun. 2025.
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