How to Use riffle in a Sentence

riffle

1 of 2 verb
  • He riffled the pages of the magazine.
  • Web research is convenient but doesn't offer the tactile pleasures of riffling through heavy old books.
  • The big sky flares deep pink and blue, riffled with puffy rows of high clouds.
    — National Geographic, 13 June 2017
  • The bear was riffling through garbage cans like a homeless person looking for food.
    — Angela Helm, The Root, 9 Dec. 2017
  • After stealing the purse, the thief hid it inside her own purse, and then riffled through it in the parking lot.
    — Tiffini Theisen, orlandosentinel.com, 22 Oct. 2019
  • The sun is intoxicating, and the wind is riffling her wig and gently cooling the piping hot Cup O' Noodles in her hand.
    — Caity Weaver, GQ, 26 Mar. 2018
  • Pipe noted that in Butler’s otherwise immaculate home, there was evidence that someone had riffled through files in her home office and strewn them across the floor.
    — Keith L. Alexander, Washington Post, 25 Apr. 2017
  • The model of shuffling that the new result depends on, like Bayer and Diaconis’ before it, still assumes that the cards riffle down one by one, rather than in clumps.
    — John Pavlus, Quanta Magazine, 17 June 2026
  • He's riffled through the data of nuclear seismic data in years past and called out other researchers who credited the North Korean regime with nuclear blasts.
    — Joe Pappalardo, Popular Mechanics, 5 Sep. 2017
  • The officers had riffled through Becky and Philip’s belongings and seized their computers, cell phones, financial papers, and the mortar and pestle Philip had used to crush Becky’s pills.
    — Ann Neumann, Harper's magazine, 10 June 2019
  • The rapper, whose real name is Joseph Foreman, recorded the aggressive raid on his home surveillance system in videos that showed officers riffling through cash and his CD collection and kicking down his door.
    — Andrew Graham may 28, Sacbee.com, 28 May 2026
  • Under cover of awkward teen dancing, the pair slipped into the library, riffled through the card catalog, and discovered, in addition to Soul on Ice, eight other volumes in PONY-U perdition.
    — Literary Hub, 25 June 2026
  • As Bertha whips up breakfast for their boarders, the couple peers out of the window, watching Bynum Walker (a fantastic Ruben Santiago-Hudson) dance with the pigeons and riffle through Seth’s vegetable garden.
    — Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 26 Apr. 2026

riffle

2 of 2 noun
  • There are just enough riffles to spice things up, but nothing to set your teeth on edge.
    — Scott Craven, azcentral, 8 Nov. 2019
  • The rocks fall to the ground in a big pile, and silt settles in riffles on the sloping ramp of the sluice.
    — Nell Zink, Harper's magazine, 28 Oct. 2019
  • Choosing to begin the riffle with the same card each time is an example of a prime.
    — Caroline Delbert, Popular Mechanics, 29 July 2020
  • Here the river is 40-feet wide and forms a riffle and run that drops to about 4 feet in depth.
    — Paul A. Smith, Journal Sentinel, 2 Jan. 2023
  • Steve dropped his fly into a riffle near the bank and instantly brought out a 8-inch rainbow.
    — R. Gregory Nokes | For The Oregonian/oregonlive, oregonlive, 9 Dec. 2020
  • Anglers should be able to start catching some near the log jams and any shallow riffle areas using white and chartreuse twister tails.
    — Tyler Mahoney special To The Star, kansascity, 2 May 2018
  • Some of the rapids and riffles are starting to open up, but the melting snow and ice will be slowly kicking up river levels and should muddy the waters.
    — cleveland.com, 12 Jan. 2018
  • The passage will be about 15-feet wide with riffles and pools mimicking a natural waterway.
    — Marc Daalder, Detroit Free Press, 3 July 2018
  • When abnormally high flows from spring runoff are pounding the outside bends and pushing rocks down the riffles where trout usually hold, the trout move out of the way.
    — John Merwin, Field & Stream, 9 Apr. 2020
  • The waters below the first riffle in the lower parts of the river are possible locations for hungry walleye.
    — D'arcy Egan, cleveland.com, 21 June 2019
  • Spinners, spoons, small nymphs, streamers, worms and Power Bait should attract some attention in deep pools and riffles.
    — Jordan Rodriguez and Jordan Rodriguez, idahostatesman, 15 Dec. 2017
  • Meacham’s long riffle through the files of the totally familiar is not without some interesting findings.
    — Thomas Frank, Harper's Magazine, 22 June 2021
  • Beaver ponds may have warmer surface water than upstream riffles, but those same pools can actually hold colder water at deeper levels.
    — John Myers, Twin Cities, 26 Aug. 2019
  • Dead drifting a Pat’s Rubberlegs or another heavy stonefly nymph in the riffles and deep runs can be deadly around this time.
    — Dac Collins, Outdoor Life, 14 May 2026
  • Not long after comes a series of little 10-inch browns, all eager to eat in the same riffle, then a nice rainbow, and then, amazingly, a 14-inch brookie.
    — Frank Sargeant, al, 8 Aug. 2021
  • The three of us decided to investigate the the smallmouth action on the lower Oconto in late summer, a time when flows are usually down and pools and runs and riffles are well-defined.
    — Paul A. Smith, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 16 Sep. 2017
  • Nymphing slow, consistent pools and runs early and mid-day in the upper basin can be productive, with fish moving into faster riffles to feed when nymphs are drifting, primarily in the afternoons.
    — Colorado Parks & Wildlife, The Denver Post, 21 May 2017
  • Hit the Soft Spots Runoff often means not only dirty water but also a much higher volume of water, so don’t be surprised if your favorite riffle or run is totally washed out.
    — Tim Romano, Field & Stream, 17 Apr. 2024
  • This particular riffle had six species, including the Texas logperch and the Guadalupe bass, both of which have been historically scarce in the Mission Reach.
    — Elena Bruess, San Antonio Express-News, 27 Nov. 2021
  • Durkalec suggested targeting the river waters from the first riffle down to Lake Erie, and reported that successful anglers are pitching casting spoons, in-line spinners and small diving plugs.
    — cleveland, 30 Sep. 2021
  • The trout and chubs will forage and lounge in a sanctuary of potable and treated water contoured with pools, riffles and waterfalls designed by biologists at Stillwater Sciences, a consulting firm.
    — Los Angeles Times, 17 Sep. 2019
  • Guadalupe bass, the jewel-like State Fish of Texas, holding in the rocky runs and riffles and hanging along the current seams or the shadows of undercut banks and otherwise behaving more like freshwater trout than a black bass.
    — Shannon Tompkins, Houston Chronicle, 12 May 2018
  • Flatland consultant David Heilman recommended the riffle modification, which involves installing a sloping stepping stone system that mimics the elevation of the dam, but allows fish and sediment to wash over it.
    — Carole Carlson, Post-Tribune, 16 May 2018
  • Restoration work, which was funded in part by a grant from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, included improving the channel pattern, constructing riffles and additional floodplain, bank stabilization structures and native plantings.
    — Sheila Vilvens, Cincinnati.com, 2 May 2018

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'riffle.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: