New Riddles With Answers - page 9 of 53
Tear one off and scratch my head, what once was red is black instead!
A matchstick has a red-tipped head; tearing one from the matchbook and striking (scratching) it burns the red tip to black.
In your fire you hear me scream! Creaking and whining yet I am dead before you lay me in your hearth.
A log crackles and 'screams' as it burns in a fireplace, even though it was already dead wood before you placed it in the hearth.
What seven-letter word becomes longer when the third letter is removed?
Removing the third letter (U) from LOUNGER gives LONGER, a word that is literally 'longer' in meaning.
Handy when you need to measure something or run a kingdom.
A ruler is both a measuring tool and the word for a monarch or leader who 'rules' a kingdom.
Your reflection can be seen here, as long as you're not moving.
A still body of water acts like a mirror and shows your reflection, but any movement or ripple distorts it.
What can be measured but has no length, width or height?
Temperature is a measurable physical quantity (in degrees) but it doesn't have spatial dimensions like length, width, or height.
What word looks the same upside down and backwards?
The word 'SWIMS' reads the same when the page is flipped upside down and when it's viewed reflected, thanks to the symmetry of its letters.
Can you think of a crime that is punishable if attempted but not punishable if actually committed?
Attempted suicide has historically been treated as a punishable act in some places, but a completed suicide cannot be punished because the person is deceased.
With shiny fangs, my bloodless bite will bring together what's mostly white. What am I?
A stapler's metal staple 'bites' cleanly through a stack of white paper, binding it together without drawing blood.
Born in an instant. I tell all stories. I can be lost. But I never die. What am I?
Memories form the moment something happens, hold our life stories, can fade, yet never truly cease to exist.
I can whistle. I can howl. I can scream. And I can whisper. But I do not speak. What am I?
Wind can whistle through gaps, howl during a storm, scream in a gale, and whisper as a light breeze, all without ever actually speaking.
You use lots of me, yet you use me right when you're done. What am I?
Toilet paper is used in large amounts, and the phrase 'you use me right after you're done' describes wiping up after using the bathroom.
I am a way to say goodbye to your sweetheart. What am I?
A kiss goodbye is a classic romantic gesture between sweethearts parting ways.
I lose my head in the morning and regain it back at night. What am I?
A pillow loses the indentation of your head once you get up in the morning, and regains it again each night when you lie back down.
I am owned by Old McDonald. What am I?
'Old MacDonald Had a Farm' is the classic children's song about a farmer and his animals.
I am milky white and scare people. What am I?
A ghost is traditionally depicted as pale, milky-white, and is a classic figure meant to frighten people.
I cause involuntary movements in your vehicle. What am I?
A tow truck physically drags a vehicle along against its own power, forcing it to move without its engine running.
Use me to reward good behavior. What am I?
Giving a treat is a classic way to reward good behavior, especially when training a pet.
I am not very commonly found! Only in some rainforests! I have an odd number of toes! I'm very lazy and hang upside down! What am I?
Sloths live in rainforests, have an unusual toe count on their limbs, move very slowly, and spend most of their time hanging upside down from branches.
I can be driven, but have no wheels. I can be sliced, but still remain whole. What am I?
In golf, a ball can be struck ('driven') off the tee, and a mis-hit ('sliced') shot still leaves the ball itself perfectly intact.
I do not speak, but there is no word I cannot make. What am I?
The alphabet's 26 letters, though silent themselves, can be rearranged to spell out every word in the language.
I am not alive but seem so, because I dance and breathe with no legs or lungs of my own. What am I?
A flickering flame or a piece of animated art can seem lifelike, 'dancing' and 'breathing' with movement despite having no legs or lungs — though the riddle's link to fame specifically is an unusually loose fit worth noting.
I am easy to waste and unstoppable. What am I?
Time slips away easily if you're not careful, and once a moment passes, it can never be gotten back or stopped.
I am a protector of the scoreboard. What am I?
A goalie's job in sports like soccer or hockey is to defend the net and keep the score from climbing.
I go from house to house, a messenger small and tight. Whether it rains or snows, I sleep outside at night. What am I?
The source gives "road" as the answer -- a road connects every house and stays outdoors through all weather, though the imagery of a "small and tight messenger" fits a road only loosely; a mail carrier or letter might seem a more literal match to that phrase.
I spend most of my day eating white. When I am quick enough, I get rewarded with fruit and something blue. In a dark room with blue walls, I run from the ghost that roams the halls. What am I?
Pac-Man is the classic arcade game where the yellow character eats white dots, earns fruit bonuses, and flees ghosts through blue maze walls.
Rub me and a genie might appear. What am I?
In the story of Aladdin, rubbing a magic lamp is what summons a genie.
I am brown and sticky. What am I?
This is a pun: something 'brown and sticky' describes a plain wooden stick -- brown in color and able to 'stick' out or poke, playing on the word 'sticky.'
I go around and in the house, but never touch the house. What am I?
Sunlight surrounds and streams into a house through its windows without ever physically touching the structure itself.
When it comes to me, you go on red and stop on green. What am I?
This flips the usual traffic-light rule: watermelon has a green (go) rind on the outside but red (stop) flesh once you cut in.
I go up and down at the same time. Up towards the sky and down towards the ground. What am I?
A see-saw has one end rising while the other falls, moving up and down simultaneously depending on which side you're on.
I shoot but never kill. What am I?
A camera 'shoots' photographs, capturing a moment without causing any actual harm.
I am bigger than an elephant but lighter than a feather. What am I?
A gust or storm of wind can be an enormous force of nature, yet air itself weighs next to nothing, lighter than a feather.
I like to twirl my body but keep my head up high. After I go in, everything becomes tight. What am I?
A screw twists ('twirls') as it's driven in, and once fully seated, it grips tightly, holding materials firmly together.
I eat as you turn me, my blade cutting wood. When I am full, empty me you should. What am I?
A pencil sharpener's internal blade shaves wood as you twist the pencil, and its shavings chamber needs emptying once full.
Sometimes I am liked, sometimes I am hated. Usually I am old, usually I am dated. What am I?
History includes events people either celebrate or resent, and it's often described as 'old' and 'dated' by nature.
I have a long tail that I let fly. Every time I go through a gap, I leave a bit of my tail in the trap. What am I?
A sewing needle drags thread ('tail') through fabric, leaving a little behind in the weave with each stitch through a gap.
Better touch me before you proceed to second. What am I?
In baseball, a runner has to touch first base before advancing on to second.
I come in many shapes and colors. I sing in the breeze but only live 7 months. What am I?
A leaf comes in countless shapes and colors, rustles ('sings') in the wind, and typically survives only through a single growing season before falling.
I twist and turn and leave a loop. What am I?
Tying a shoelace involves twisting it and forming a loop to make the knot.
I am full of wisdom and knowledge. I get what you want in a blink of an eye. I am known to man as full of endless wisdom. What am I?
A computer with internet access can instantly retrieve vast amounts of information, appearing endlessly knowledgeable.
I am ten little beans you look at everyday. What am I?
Your ten toes sit at the end of your feet, quietly visible every single day.
I can be red, blue, purple, and green. No one can reach me, not even the queen. What am I?
Rainbows display bands of color but are an optical phenomenon with no physical location anyone, not even royalty, can actually reach.
Found at the back of a book or in an abdomen. What am I?
An appendix is both a supplementary section at the back of a book and a small organ tucked inside the human abdomen.
Cats and deflating tires make this noise. What am I?
Both an angry cat and a slowly deflating tire make a distinctive hissing sound.
Many people own a copy of me. Without me the world would fall. What am I?
An atlas is a bound book of maps, and in Greek mythology, Atlas is the titan condemned to hold up the entire world.
I am a tool for fairies. What am I?
A magic wand is the classic tool fairies and other magical characters use to cast their spells.
I can burn your mouth and sting your eye, but I am consumed everyday. What am I?
Too much salt can make food taste sharp, and getting salt in your eye stings, yet it's an ingredient consumed daily.
I am a sharp looking horse with a flaxen tail. The longer I run the shorter my tail becomes. What am I?
A sewing needle pulls thread ('flaxen tail') through fabric, and the thread grows shorter the more it's stitched through.
When set loose, I fly away. Never so cursed, as when I go astray. What am I?
This is a crude joke riddle -- a fart is 'let loose,' and it's most embarrassing when its smell lingers or is noticed by others.
Things here are usually tagged with red stickers. What am I?
Clearance items in stores are commonly marked with red price tags or stickers.
I am hot then cold, a liquid then solid, and I am at once flaky and wet. What am I?
Candle wax melts into hot liquid, hardens back into a solid as it cools, and can feel flaky or waxy-wet to the touch.
Forward, backward, is what I do all day. I come in all different shapes and sizes. I can be scary, and I can calm you down. What am I?
A rocking chair sways forward and back continuously, comes in many designs, and can be spooky-looking (empty and rocking) or soothing to sit in.
I am very large but look very small. When night falls, I am cherished by all. What am I?
Stars are massive but appear tiny from Earth due to their distance, and they're admired once darkness lets them shine.
A large oasis in the desert. Come with cash and leave with none. What am I?
Las Vegas is a desert city famous for casinos, where visitors often arrive with cash and leave having lost it all.
I am a beverage named after a stick. What am I?
Club soda is a carbonated water beverage named after the wooden 'club' used in early carbonation devices.
I can be entertaining until you realize some pieces have been lost. What am I?
A jigsaw puzzle is fun to work on, but it stops being complete or satisfying once pieces go missing.
I enclose you in darkness but allow you to see many things. If you resist me, you're likely to get rings. What am I?
Closing your eyes to sleep shows you images (dreams) in darkness, and fighting off sleep too long can leave you with dark rings under your eyes.
I live in the corn, and my job is to deter. Free from pests your crops I assure. What am I?
A scarecrow stands guard in cornfields to frighten birds and pests away from the crops.
I am nature's way of applauding lightning. What am I?
Thunder is the booming sound that follows a lightning strike, like nature applauding the flash.
If I turn my head, you may go where you want, but if I turn again, you could stay and rot. What am I?
Turning a key one way unlocks a door to freedom, but turning it another way can lock someone inside, like a prison cell.
Taken from a mine and then locked up in a wooden case. Never released but used by students everyday. What am I?
Pencil 'lead' (actually graphite) is mined from the earth, encased in a wooden pencil, and used daily by students.
I am wingless but airborne, and when I meet your gaze tears will fall from your eyes. What am I?
Smoke has no wings but rises through the air, and its sting in your eyes famously brings tears -- as in the saying 'smoke gets in your eyes.'
I am a creature with a 'tight' name. What am I?
The riddle puns on the word 'seal' -- both the marine animal and something that is 'tight,' as in an airtight seal.
Teenage girls are pros at creating me. Learn me in classes. What am I?
Teenage girls are stereotypically associated with creating interpersonal 'drama,' and drama is also a school subject taught in acting classes.
I can never be stolen from you. I am owned by everyone. Some have more, some have less. What am I?
Knowledge, once learned, can never be physically stolen from a person's mind, though people naturally have varying amounts of it.
I take off my clothes when you put on your clothes. I put on my clothes when you take off your clothes. What am I?
A hanger holds a garment until you take that garment off it to wear, and it becomes bare again when you undress and hang your clothes back on it.
Food can help me survive, but water will kill me. What am I?
Feeding a fire with fuel keeps it burning, while dousing it with water extinguishes it.
A move made popular by the King of Pop. What am I?
Michael Jackson, the 'King of Pop,' made the backward-gliding Moonwalk dance move iconic.
I am a type of animal that hangs out in the mist. What am I?
The phrase "hangs out in the mist" references "Gorillas in the Mist," the famous book and film about mountain gorillas.
I can be simple or I can be complex. I can be found in this riddle or in everyday life. I can be shapes or even colors. What am I?
Patterns can be simple or intricate and show up everywhere, in shapes, colors, language, and even in the structure of a riddle itself.
I transfer oxygen from the atmosphere to your blood. What am I?
Your lungs pull oxygen from the air you breathe and pass it into your bloodstream.
I am the reaction after enjoying soda. What am I?
Carbonated soda releases gas in your stomach, which typically escapes as a burp.
I am a million people's wakeup call. What am I?
Coffee beans are brewed into the caffeinated coffee millions of people rely on to wake up each morning.
An action done on mosquito bites. What am I?
Scratching an itchy mosquito bite is an almost automatic reflex, even though it often makes the itch worse.
I am wood that is neither hard, straight, or crooked. What am I?
Sawdust is the fine, crumbly byproduct of cutting wood, with none of a plank's hardness or straightness.
I have fangs and enjoy piercing holes with a single bite. What am I?
A stapler's metal staple 'bites' through stacks of paper, piercing them with a single squeeze.
I crawl on the earth and rise on a pillar. What am I?
A shadow lies flat and low on the ground at midday but stretches long and tall, like a pillar, at sunrise or sunset.
I am a mountain at night, meadow at day. What am I?
This is a loose, poetic fit -- an unmade bed with rumpled covers can look like a 'mountain' at night, while a made bed lies flat like a 'meadow' during the day.
Some people avoid me, some people count me, some people just consume me. What am I?
People diet to avoid calories, count them to track their diet, and consume them through food.
I carry you down a gentle stream. What am I?
A rowboat is paddled by hand and glides gently along a calm river or stream.
I am owned by the poor, the rich does not need me. If you eat me, you will die! What am I?
The poor "have" nothing, the rich don't need nothing, and if you "eat nothing" (starve) you would die -- a classic riddle about the word "nothing."
When you take away the whole from me, there is always some left. What am I?
The riddle is a letter/word trick: remove 'whole' from 'wholesome' and 'some' is left over -- a play on the word itself rather than a real object.
Against the sun, I protect your eyes and am often worn on the face of spies. What am I?
Sunglasses shield your eyes from bright sunlight and are a classic accessory associated with movie spies going incognito.
I can fill any space, float, and disappear. Never touching the ground I help others get around. What am I?
Gas can expand to fill any container, float upward if lighter than air, and quickly dissipate, and fuel-based gas literally helps vehicles 'get around.'
I have a neck and no head, two arms but no hands. I'm with you to school, I'm with you to work. What am I?
A t-shirt has a neck-hole with no head, and sleeve-holes with no hands, and it accompanies you to school or work every day.
I am very important, but often overlooked. What am I?
Your nose sits front and center on your face, essential for breathing and smell, yet it's easy to take for granted precisely because it's always there.
I have four legs, one head, and a foot. What am I?
A bed has four legs, a "headboard" (head), and a "footboard" (foot) -- furniture terms borrowed from the human body.
A storage facility for criminals and fire-breathing reptiles. What am I?
A dungeon in fantasy stories often holds both captured criminals and mythical fire-breathing dragons.
I am free for the taking. Through all of your life, though given but once at birth. I am less than nothing in weight, but will fell the strongest of you if held. What am I?
A person's breath is given freely at birth, weighs nothing, and yet its absence — being unable to breathe — can overpower even the strongest person.
I have a frame but no pictures. I have poles but not standing up. What am I?
This is a loose fit -- 'glasses' have a frame but no pictures in it, and their side arms are only loosely likened to 'poles'; the wording fits a tent more naturally, but the source's stated answer is glasses.
I suck. What am I?
'Suck' is both literally what a vacuum cleaner does (suction) and a common slang complaint meaning something is bad.
Sing me to a baby about to go to sleep. What am I?
A lullaby is a soft, soothing song specifically sung to help a baby fall asleep.
Angels and pilots work with me. What am I?
Angels are depicted with wings, and pilots operate aircraft, both associated closely with 'wings.'
I am the type of room you cannot enter or leave. I rise from the ground below. I could be poisonous or a delicious treat. What am I?
'Mushroom' contains the word 'room,' rises up from the soil, and some varieties are edible while others are toxic.
I come without being fetched at night, hide away as soon as daylight strikes. Although I may look small, I am much mightier than what you can imagine. What am I?
Stars appear in the night sky without being physically retrieved and fade from view once the sun rises, despite their true massive size.
I tell people to be careful when handling boxes. What am I?
'Fragile' is the word stamped on packaging to warn handlers that the contents inside are breakable.
I mirror your actions. What am I?
The riddle uses "mirror" figuratively: a copycat is someone who imitates, or "mirrors," what another person does, rather than a literal reflective mirror.
I am the most famous dinner. What am I?
"The Last Supper" is both a famous biblical dinner -- Jesus's final meal -- and the title of Leonardo da Vinci's iconic painting, making it "the most famous dinner."
I can be the book one can never finish reading. What am I?
Just as one can never finish writing their own life story, in a sense it can also never be fully 'read' until the author's life ends.