Riddyng

Part of speech: verb, noun

Definitions

1. Separating coarse matter from grain or sand by passing it through a coarse sieve ; making a place or person free of something unwanted or harmful
2. Sieving loose material such as grain or earth to remove the larger pieces ; getting rid of an unwanted burden or presence from a place or person
3. The act of straining out chaff or lumps through a mesh sieve ; the act of clearing away or liberating something from an unwelcome encumbrance

Etymology: "Riddyng" is a Middle English form of "riddling," the present participle and gerund of the verb "ridden" or "riddle." The sense of sieving out lumps comes from Old English "hriddel," a sieve or coarse screen, which is related to the verb "hriddan" (to sift). Note that the verb "riddle" in the sense of sifting and the noun "riddle" in the sense of a puzzle are not related in origin: the puzzle sense, from Old English "rǣdels," belongs to a different word entirely, and the two only later came to look alike. The sifting meaning survives in English mainly as the verb "riddle," meaning to pierce many holes in something, as in a body "riddled with bullets," a sense that grew from the image of a sieve full of holes. The spelling "riddyng" is a Middle English form, and the modern form is "riddling," with the same sense.