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
The New Yorker, New Yorker, 14 May 2025
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
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
See All Example Sentences for riffle
Verb
Very often, the single word that completes the thought in a Maclean line is the fly that drops perfectly onto the riffle.
—The New Yorker, New Yorker, 14 May 2025
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
Noun
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
See All Example Sentences for riffle
Recent Examples of Synonyms for riffle
Verb
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There is also the matter of fact that Soto was flipped for Michael King, Randy Vásquez, Kyle Higashioka, Jhony Brito and Drew Thorpe.—
Kevin Acee,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
24 June 2025
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Two teens are dead and three others remain seriously injured Monday after their car flipped over in a crash and slid into oncoming traffic in Pompano Beach on Friday night.—
Angie DiMichele,
Sun Sentinel,
24 June 2025
Noun
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Pipe those wavelets of foie gras feculence over to neighboring Surfside, a two-bathroom kind of town with waste pipes galore.—
Pat Beall,
The Orlando Sentinel,
22 June 2025
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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
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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Now, after a year of bi-monthly root touch ups and gradual lightening, my hair remains healthy and curls are fully intact.—
Essence,
Essence,
19 June 2025
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The 28 Days Later photocall in Paris on June 4 saw Taylor-Johnson wear his beard shaved much lower to his face, but the windy conditions of the day caused his curls to drift to-and-fro.—
Starr Bowenbank,
People.com,
16 June 2025
Verb
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More than 1,600 reviewers give this cheesy pasta two thumbs up – or five stars.—
Kait Hanson,
Southern Living,
22 June 2025
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By continuing to insist that the United States does not need Canada – or any other country – Trump is thumbing his nose at our biggest trade partners and allies.—
Douglas Schoen,
Oc Register,
11 May 2025
Noun
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And some newer conversion kits act something like a treadmill mounted to your bike, using rollers to help propel your wheel forward.—
Michael Venutolo-Mantovani,
Wired News,
20 June 2025
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Designed for all skill levels, the lagoon offers everything from gentle rollers for beginners to fast, barreling breaks for advanced wave riders.—
Erin Gifford,
Travel + Leisure,
17 June 2025
Verb
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For most locations, the upper limb of the moon will skim to within about 20 arc minutes (one-third of a degree) of Mars.—
Joe Rao,
Space.com,
13 June 2025
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That bill, House Bill 436, gives a pathway for emergency services to withdraw from urban renewal agencies, which skim new revenue from rising property values and new development and uses that money to help fund more projects.—
Nick Rosenberger,
Idaho Statesman,
13 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 3 Jul. 2025.
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