pestle

[ pes-uhl, pes-tl ]

noun

1. a tool for pounding or grinding substances in a mortar.
2. any of various appliances for pounding, stamping, etc.

verb (used with object)

, pes·tled, pes·tling.

1. to pound or grind with or as if with a pestle.

verb (used without object)

, pes·tled, pes·tling.

1. to work with a pestle.

pestle

/ ˈpɛsəl /

noun

1. a club-shaped instrument for mixing or grinding substances in a mortar
2. a tool for pounding or stamping

verb

1. to pound (a substance or object) with or as if with a pestle

Word History and Origins

Origin of pestle¹

1300–50; Middle English pestel < Middle French < Latin pistillum, derivative of pistus, past participle of pīnsere to pound, crush

Word History and Origins

Origin of pestle¹

C14: from Old French pestel, from Latin pistillum; related to pinsāre to crush

Example Sentences

You can use a mortar and pestle or give the seeds a quick blitz with a grinder.

From Popular-Science

It was an attractive form of waste, so the team gathered droppings from a nearby farm, ground them into powder with a mortar and pestle and cooked them up—dry, wet, varied temperature, and so on.

From Popular-Science

She broke open two heads of garlic, smashed the cloves in a mortar and pestle then dumped in spoonfuls of salt mixed with dried oregano and a Puerto Rican spice mix called adobo.

From Washington Post

While waiting for the water to boil, in a mortar with a pestle, pound the cloves, cardamom and cinnamon until roughly ground.

From Washington Post

Blend them together in a spice grinder or with a mortar and pestle, working in batches, if needed.

From Washington Post

All are thrown into a wooden bowl and beaten with a pestle into a colorful plate of food.

From The Daily Beast

So if you have high-quality saffron, you should feel free to grind it yourself with a mortar and pestle.

From The Daily Beast

Put the spices into a pestle and mortar and pound them up with a pinch of salt.

From The Daily Beast

Jack having overpowered her seized her by the hair and beat Baba Yaga with her own pestle.

From Project Gutenberg

F'r all ye know, it may be a short note to th' dhruggist askin' him to hit ye on th' head with a pestle.

From Project Gutenberg

I leaped at him and struck him a glancing blow with the heavy wooden pestle.

From Project Gutenberg

"I do not need advice from you," he growled, his wrinkled fingers grinding the rock pestle savagely against the bowl's contents.

From Project Gutenberg

She had got into the habit of relieving herself by an audible gasp each time she drove the pestle down.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• grate
• pulverize
• reduce
• scrape