The shorter I am, the bigger I am. What am I?

What is bought by the yard but is worn by the foot?

With pointed fangs it sits in wait, With piercing force it doles out fate, Over bloodless victims proclaiming its might, Eternally joining in a single bite. What is it?

What has a foot but no leg?

What stinks when living and smells good when dead?

What takes hours to pull off, Is most satisfying when it's done, And requires consent from the person you're doing it to?

What has a big mouth, yet never speaks?

The more you take the more you leave behind.

The virgin gave birth to a child and threw away the blanket.

There is a creature of God whose body is hard; it does not wish to eat unless you strike its head.

I have three hundred cattle, with a single nose cord.

What do you have when you're sitting down that you don't have when you're standing up?

First you see me in the grass dressed in yellow gay; next I am in dainty white, then I fly away. What am I?

Born of sorrow, grows with age. You need a lot to be a sage. What is it?

Patch upon patch, without any stitches, if you tell me this riddle, I'll give you my breeches.

Some are quick to take it. Others must be coaxed. Those who choose to take it gain and lose the most.

I go in dry and come out wet, The longer I'm in, the stronger I get. What am I?

No thicker than your finger when it folds. As thick as what it's holding when it holds.

I work hard most every day, Not much time to dance and play, If I could reach what I desire, all like me would now retire. What am I?

Begotten, and born, and dying with noise, The terror of women, and pleasure of boys, Like the fiction of poets concerning the wind, I'm chiefly unruly, when strongest confined.