sprinkle
Americanverb (used with object)
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to scatter (a liquid, powder, etc.) in drops or particles.
She sprinkled sugar on the cake.
- Synonyms:
- rain, scatter, distribute
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to disperse or distribute here and there.
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to overspread with drops or particles of water, powder, or the like.
to sprinkle a lawn.
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to diversify or intersperse with objects scattered here and there.
verb (used without object)
-
to scatter or disperse liquid, a powder, etc., in drops or particles.
-
to be sprinkled.
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to rain slightly (often used impersonally with it as subject).
It may sprinkle this evening.
noun
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the act or an instance of sprinkling.
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Usually sprinkles. small particles of chocolate, candy, sugar, etc., used as a decorative topping for cookies, cakes, ice-cream cones, and the like.
-
a light rain.
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a small quantity or number.
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a small party given to celebrate a mother-to-be or bride-to-be as an alternative to a larger bridal or baby shower.
We decided to skip the big baby shower and just have a sprinkle this time.
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Archaic. something used for sprinkling.
a holy-water sprinkle.
verb
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to scatter (liquid, powder, etc) in tiny particles or droplets over (something)
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(tr) to distribute over (something)
the field was sprinkled with flowers
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(intr) to drizzle slightly
noun
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the act or an instance of sprinkling or a quantity that is sprinkled
-
a slight drizzle
Related Words
Sprinkle, scatter, strew mean to fling, spread, or disperse. To sprinkle means to fling about small drops or particles: to sprinkle water on clothes, powder on plants. To scatter is to disperse or spread widely: to scatter seeds. To strew is to scatter, especially in such a way as to cover or partially cover a surface: to strew flowers on a grave.
Other Word Forms
- intersprinkle verb (used with object)
- presprinkle verb (used with object)
- resprinkle verb
- unsprinkled adjective
Etymology
Origin of sprinkle
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English verb sprenklen; cognate with Dutch sprenkelen, German sprenkeln; akin to Old English sprengan “to sprinkle, make (something) spring, scatter,” causative of springan “to spring”; spring
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Meanwhile, the existing diners —mostly teens with a sprinkle of middle-aged folks and their kiddos—are rushing to clean up and clear out to make room.
From Literature
But “Ankhmerwer”—gorgeously inscribed and illustrated and sprinkled with glimmering gold shrines, crowns, birds, gods and sun disks—rewards close looking and empathetic eyes.
A "chocolate doughnut Easter egg" triggers curiosity - a shell blended with shortbread and fudge pieces, topped with sprinkles.
From BBC
The hillside behind her was sprinkled with desert golds, but the display fell short of the riotous eruption of flowers posted on social media.
From Los Angeles Times
But whipping up one of her full-scale smorgasbords of sprinkled donuts, popcorn and nigiri for a gallery display isn’t mere child’s play.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
