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
Amy Schulman, PEOPLE.com, 6 May 2022
Two Guns spread through madly riffling brush, the path crunching under my hiking boots going uphill.
—Chris Malloy, Condé Nast Traveler, 8 June 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
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
Two Guns spread through madly riffling brush, the path crunching under my hiking boots going uphill.
—Chris Malloy, Condé Nast Traveler, 8 June 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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While the East Team is looking to flip the script this time around, the West's roster is stacked with big-time playmakers looking to make their mark.—
Dan Perry,
Newsweek,
31 Jan. 2025
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The new Trump administration is using the language of civil rights but flipping it on its head.—
Veralyn Williams,
NPR,
31 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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As for her glam, Good styled her hair in an updo with cascading curls falling down her shoulders.—
Julia Teti,
WWD,
5 Feb. 2025
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Photo: Getty Images The previous day, the couple were also spotted on a dinner date, and the Rhode founder debuted a fun new hairdo in the form of undulating curls.—
Anna Cafolla,
Vogue,
5 Feb. 2025
Verb
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The ordinance was repealed in July 2008. 1995: Two thumbs up.—
Kori Rumore,
Chicago Tribune,
1 Feb. 2025
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Watercolours and its surprisingly competent pictures will enliven any coffee table—and surely provoke more than a few visitors to thumb its pages and reflect on Charles’s varied interests.—
Allie Merriam,
Vogue,
30 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Hobby The central kitchen remains a very simple space, featuring a slide-out 39-L electric cool box, sink plumbed to a 25-L fresh water tank via submersible pump, waste water roller tank and worktop.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
23 Jan. 2025
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One of Vogue’s favorite facial tools for a glowing, sculpted complexion, the angled roller sculpts the cheekbones and jawline.—
Kiana Murden,
Vogue,
20 Jan. 2025
Verb
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The aircraft, capable of skimming 1,600 gallons of water from the ocean and dropping it over fires, has become a critical resource in combating the flames.—
John Mac Ghlionn,
Newsweek,
13 Jan. 2025
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Ensure longer content is easy to skim with clear navigation, highlighted key points and scannable formatting so busy audiences can quickly grasp top insights and dive deeper if interested.—
Expert Panel®,
Forbes,
13 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 9 Feb. 2025.
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