rile

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To stir or move from a state of calm or order.

   Money problems rile the underpaid worker every day.

2. 2
   verb

   To make angry.

   Nothing riles an anti-mosque demonstrator more than being called a bigot.

Simplified etymology

Rile, meaning “to anger or stir up,” appeared in the early 18th century and is the same word historically as roil. Both probably derive from Old French rouiller “to beat or thrash.”

From a dialectal pronunciation of roil.

Topics

External links

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• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary