What does "pickle" mean?
A cucumber preserved in a solution, usually a brine or a vinegar syrup.
Pickle
/ˈpɪkəl/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A cucumber preserved in a solution, usually a brine or a vinegar syrup.
- Grammar: pickle is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: jam, acid, acidulant, anhydrate.
- Useful contrasts: deserialize, easy path, fresh cucumber.
- Usage evidence: Did you know that if you plug a pickle into an electrical outlet, it glows and makes buzzing noises?
How to use "pickle"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "pickle" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "pickle" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "pickle" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "pickle" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "pickle" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "jam" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "pickle", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A cucumber preserved in a solution, usually a brine or a vinegar syrup. Australia, Canada, US, countable, uncountable
"A pickle goes well with a hamburger."
- 2 A kernel; a grain (of salt, sugar, etc.) Northern-England, Scotland
- 3 vegetables (especially cucumbers) preserved in brine or vinegar wordnet
- 4 Any vegetable preserved in vinegar and consumed as relish. countable, in-plural, often, uncountable
- 5 A small or indefinite quantity or amount (of something); a little, a bit, a few. Usually in partitive construction, frequently without "of"; a single grain or kernel of wheat, barley, oats, sand or dust. Northern-England, Scotland
"[…] ill things are like guid—they baith come bit by bit, a pickle at a time […]"
Show 11 more definitions
- 6 informal terms for a difficult situation wordnet
- 7 A sweet, vinegary pickled chutney popular in Britain. UK, countable, uncountable
- 8 The brine used for preserving food. countable, uncountable
"This tub is filled with the pickle that we will put the small cucumbers into."
- 9 A difficult situation; peril. countable, informal, uncountable
"The climber found himself in a pickle when one of the rocks broke off."
- 10 A mildly mischievous loved one. countable, endearing, uncountable
"by degrees my little pickle (who, as I told you at the beginning of the story, was the most troublesome child I ever came across) turned into a very well-behaved young gentleman."
- 11 A rundown. countable, uncountable
"Jones was caught in a pickle between second and third."
- 12 A children’s game with three participants that emulates a baseball rundown uncountable
"The boys played pickle in the front yard for an hour."
- 13 A penis. countable, slang, uncountable
- 14 A pipe for smoking methamphetamine. countable, slang, uncountable
"Load some shards in that pickle."
- 15 A bath of dilute sulphuric or nitric acid, etc., to remove burnt sand, scale, rust, etc., from the surface of castings, or other articles of metal, or to brighten them or improve their colour. countable, uncountable
- 16 In an optical landing system, the hand-held controller connected to the lens, or apparatus on which the lights are mounted. countable, uncountable
Verb
- 1 To preserve food (or sometimes other things) in a salt, sugar or vinegar solution. ergative, transitive
"We pickled the remainder of the crop."
- 2 To eat sparingly. Northern-England, Scotland, ambitransitive
- 3 preserve in a pickling liquid wordnet
- 4 To remove high-temperature scale and oxidation from metal with heated (often sulphuric) industrial acid. transitive
"The crew will pickle the fittings in the morning."
- 5 To pilfer. Northern-England, Scotland, ambitransitive
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 To serialize.
"You can now restore the pickled data. If you like, close your Python interpreter and open a new instance, to convince yourself […]"
- 7 To pour brine over a person after flogging them, as a method of punishment. historical
"On Wednesday 26 May, […] I had [an enslaved man] flogged and pickled and then made Hector shit in his mouth. […] In July, […] Gave [another enslaved man] a moderate whipping, pickled him well, made Hector shit in his mouth, […]"
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
Antonyms
Example
"Did you know that if you plug a pickle into an electrical outlet, it glows and makes buzzing noises?"
Common questions
What is a synonym for "pickle"?
Common synonyms include: jam, acid, acidulant, anhydrate, baffle, bafflement.
How do you use "pickle" in a sentence?
Did you know that if you plug a pickle into an electrical outlet, it glows and makes buzzing noises?
How do you pronounce "pickle"?
Pronounced /ˈpɪkəl/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English pikel (“spicy sauce served with meat or fish”), borrowed from Middle Dutch, Middle Low German pekel (“brine”). Cognate with Scots pikkill (“salt liquor, brine”), Saterland Frisian Piekele (“pickle, brine”), Dutch pekel (“pickle, brine”), Low German pekel, peckel, pickel, bickel (“pickle, brine”), German Pökel (“pickle, brine”), Icelandic pækill (“brine”).
Etymology 2
Perhaps from Scottish pickle, apparently from pick + -le (diminutive suffix). Compare Scots pickil.