Puddle

//ˈpʌdl̩// noun, verb

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A small, often temporary, pool of water, usually on a path or road.

    "Foꝛ with the only be theſe welles of lyfe, / Of frayle men ſpring but podels of myꝛe, / From whom ſourdeth errour ⁊ croked ſtrife[…]"

  2. 2
    something resembling a pool of liquid wordnet
  3. 3
    Stagnant or polluted water. dialectal

    "And fast beside a little brooke did pas / Of muddie water, that like puddle stank […]."

  4. 4
    a small body of standing water (rainwater) or other liquid wordnet
  5. 5
    A homogeneous mixture of clay, water, and sometimes grit, used to line a canal or pond to make it watertight.
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  1. 6
    a mixture of wet clay and sand that can be used to line a pond and that is impervious to water when dry wordnet
  2. 7
    The ripple left by the withdrawal of an oar from the water.

    "I had only to see the 'puddle' to know that your paddle made it."

Verb
  1. 1
    To form a puddle.
  2. 2
    eliminate urine wordnet
  3. 3
    To play or splash in a puddle.
  4. 4
    mix up or confuse wordnet
  5. 5
    Of butterflies, to congregate on a puddle or moist substance to pick up nutrients.
Show 12 more definitions
  1. 6
    make a puddle by splashing water wordnet
  2. 7
    To process iron, gold, etc., by means of puddling.
  3. 8
    make into a puddle wordnet
  4. 9
    To line a canal with puddle (clay).
  5. 10
    mess around, as in a liquid or paste wordnet
  6. 11
    To collect ideas, especially abstract concepts, into rough subtopics or categories, as in study, research or conversation.
  7. 12
    work a wet mixture, such as concrete or mud wordnet
  8. 13
    To make (clay, loam, etc.) dense or close, by working it when wet, so as to render impervious to water.

    "Soon the Latino warrior had bared his beefy body. His bullet packed bandolier still draped over one shoulder served to emphasize the nakedness of the torso, as did the boots and the pants that were puddled about his ankles."

  9. 14
    dip into mud before planting wordnet
  10. 15
    To make foul or muddy; to pollute with dirt; to mix dirt with (water).

    "Some unhatched practice […] / Hath puddled his clear spirit."

  11. 16
    subject to puddling or form by puddling wordnet
  12. 17
    wade or dabble in a puddle wordnet

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English podel, diminutive of Old English pudd (“ditch”), from Proto-Germanic *puddaz (compare Low German Pudel (“puddle”), Middle High German podel (“quagmire, mudhole”), Hunsrik Puttel, dialectal German Pfudel (“puddle”), German pudeln (“to splash about”)), ultimately imitative.

Etymology 2

From Middle English podel, diminutive of Old English pudd (“ditch”), from Proto-Germanic *puddaz (compare Low German Pudel (“puddle”), Middle High German podel (“quagmire, mudhole”), Hunsrik Puttel, dialectal German Pfudel (“puddle”), German pudeln (“to splash about”)), ultimately imitative.

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