Riddle Cafe
66

The more you take away from me, the bigger I become. What am I?

Learn More

logic

This clever riddle challenges our conventional understanding of growth and subtraction, asking us to consider a scenario where removal leads to expansion. The key to solving it lies in thinking about something defined by its absence rather than its presence.

The correct answer is a hole. When you "take away" material from a surface or an object, you are essentially creating or enlarging a void. The more earth you dig out, for instance, the larger the hole becomes. This inverse relationship is what makes the riddle so intriguing, as it flips our typical expectation that taking away something reduces its size or quantity.

Holes, in their simplicity, are fundamental to many aspects of life and engineering. From the burrows of animals providing shelter, to the meticulously drilled holes in circuit boards enabling technology, their creation is often a deliberate act of removing material for a specific purpose. Even naturally occurring phenomena like sinkholes demonstrate this principle on a grand scale, where the removal of subterranean material leads to a gaping void on the surface.

This riddle highlights how language and perspective can trick us, reminding us to think beyond the obvious. It’s a playful reminder that sometimes, less truly is more, especially when we're talking about empty spaces.