puddle

[ puhd-l ]

noun

1. a small pool of water, as of rainwater on the ground.
2. a small pool of any liquid.
3. clay or the like mixed with water and tempered, used as a waterproof lining for the walls of canals, ditches, etc.

verb (used with object)

, pud·dled, pud·dling.

1. to mark or scatter with puddles.
2. to wet with dirty water, mud, etc.
3. to make (water) muddy or dirty.
4. to muddle or confuse.
5. to make (clay or the like) into puddle.
6. to cover with pasty clay or puddle.
7. Metallurgy. to subject (molten iron) to the process of puddling.
8. to destroy the granular structure of (soil) by agricultural operations on it when it is too wet.
9. Horticulture. to dip the roots of (a tree, shrub, etc.) into a thin mixture of loam and water to retard drying out during transplanting.

verb (used without object)

, pud·dled, pud·dling.

1. to wade in a puddle:

   The children were puddling.

2. to be or become puddled:

   The backyard was puddling.

puddle

/ ˈpʌdəl /

noun

1. a small pool of water, esp of rain
2. a small pool of any liquid
3. a worked mixture of wet clay and sand that is impervious to water and is used to line a pond or canal
4. rowing the patch of eddying water left by the blade of an oar after completion of a stroke

verb

1. tr to make (clay, etc) into puddle
2. tr to subject (iron) to puddling
3. intr to dabble or wade in puddles, mud, or shallow water
4. intr to mess about

Derived Forms

• ˈpuddly, adjective
• ˈpuddler, noun

Other Words From

• puddler noun
• puddly adjective
• un·puddled adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of puddle¹

1300–50; (noun) Middle English puddel, podel, pothel, apparently diminutive of Old English pudd ditch, furrow (akin to Low German pudel puddle); (v.) late Middle English pothelen, derivative of the noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of puddle¹

C14 podel, diminutive of Old English pudd ditch, of obscure origin

Example Sentences

Able to withstand water pressures of up to 100 meters, it makes rain, snorkeling, or just aggressive puddle splashes no problem.

From Popular-Science

Like the challenge faced by Pleurotus mycelium paused at the edge of a puddle of toxic waste, radical mycological solutions are less about inventing than remembering.

From Nautilus

Early on in his research for the company, Rogers—a materials scientist—wanted to understand why if you left a strawberry on the counter it would turn into a puddle, while a lemon would remain unchanged.

From Fortune

If the water isn’t cold enough, though, you just get a lonely ice cube in a puddle of water.

From Science News For Students

When I poured out the bottles chilled in clean ice, I just got a puddle of water around my ice cube.

From Science News For Students

May they all stand in a puddle and stick their tongues in a Prius charge port.

From The Daily Beast

Then the lights went down on Bieber and his puddle of clothes.

From The Daily Beast

And when he walks in, the place is dark, but he notices a puddle on the floor.

From The Daily Beast

Puddle-jumping Cessnas are the only way in, and Land Rovers are the only way to get around.

From The Daily Beast

For some of New Yorkers, though, the dating pool can be a puddle—thanks to the “culture of honor.”

From The Daily Beast

Another man was sprawled on the gray broadloom of the reception room, a brownish puddle beneath his side.

From Project Gutenberg

He stepped over a puddle and stood beside Bud, peering down at the silent engine.

From Project Gutenberg

Then all the boys bent over the puddle, and scooped up great handfuls of water, and threw them over each other.

From Project Gutenberg

Mr. Wright, my Adjutant, saw one strike in a puddle between him and myself as we marched at the head of the Regiment.

From Project Gutenberg

On the perfect day I have been talking about she hunted up a sunlit puddle and indulged in the first wallow of the season.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• pond