rivel

Etymology

From Middle English rivelen, from Old English rifelan, riflian (“to wrinkle”), from a frequentative form of Old English *ribjōną (“to wrap; wind; roll; twist; coil”), equivalent to rive +‎ -el (frequentative suffix). Related to Old Norse rifja (“to rake (hay) into rows or furrows”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈɹɪvəl/

Verb

rivel (third-person singular simple present rivels, present participle rivelling, simple past and past participle rivelled)

1. (intransitive) To shrivel, wrinkle (up).
2. (transitive) To cause to be wrinkled, to shrivel.
   • 1621, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy, Oxford: Printed by Iohn Lichfield and Iames Short, for Henry Cripps, OCLC 216894069; The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd corrected and augmented edition, Oxford: Printed by John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, 1624, OCLC 54573970, (please specify |partition=1, 2, or 3):
     , New York Review of Books, 2001, p.279:

     they crucify the soul of man, attenuate our bodies, dry them, wither them, rivel them up like old apples, make them as so many anatomies […]

Noun

rivel (plural rivels)

1. (obsolete) A wrinkle; a rimple.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Holland to this entry?)

2. (US) A kind of dumpling made from egg and wheat flour, often eaten in soup.

Anagrams

• Elvir, Liver, ervil, levir, liver, livre, viler