pickle
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pickle¹
- /ˈpɪkəl/
- [ˈpɪkɫ̩]
Rhymes with -ɪkəl
Where it comes from
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”).
noun pickles · pickel
- A cucumber preserved in a solution, usually a brine or a vinegar syrup. A pickle goes well with a hamburger.
- Any vegetable preserved in vinegar and consumed as relish.
- A sweet, vinegary pickled chutney popular in Britain.
- The brine used for preserving food. This tub is filled with the pickle that we will put the small cucumbers into.
-
A difficult situation; peril.
The climber found himself in a pickle when one of the rocks broke off.
Similar: ass in a sling, bind, bucket of syrup, calvary, cauldron, cross, cross to bear, difficulty, dilemma, dire straits, doghouse, fix
- A mildly mischievous loved one. 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.
- A rundown. Jones was caught in a pickle between second and third.
- A children’s game with three participants that emulates a baseball rundown The boys played pickle in the front yard for an hour.
-
A penis.
Similar: anaconda, baloney pony, bald-headed hermit, banana, bird, birdie, bobby, boonga, cack, choad, choda, chode
- A pipe for smoking methamphetamine. Load some shards in that pickle.
- 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.
- In an optical landing system, the hand-held controller connected to the lens, or apparatus on which the lights are mounted.
verb pickles · pickling · pickled · pickel
- To preserve food (or sometimes other things) in a salt, sugar or vinegar solution. We pickled the remainder of the crop.
- To remove high-temperature scale and oxidation from metal with heated (often sulphuric) industrial acid. The crew will pickle the fittings in the morning.
- To serialize. You can now restore the pickled data. If you like, close your Python interpreter and open a new instance, to convince yourself […]
- To pour brine over a person after flogging them, as a method of punishment. 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, […]
pickle²
- /ˈpɪkəl/
- [ˈpɪkɫ̩]
Rhymes with -ɪkəl
Where it comes from
Perhaps from Scottish pickle, apparently from pick + -le (diminutive suffix). Compare Scots pickil.
noun pickles
- A kernel; a grain (of salt, sugar, etc.)
- 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. […] ill things are like guid—they baith come bit by bit, a pickle at a time […]
verb pickles · pickling · pickled
- To eat sparingly.
- To pilfer.
Pickle³
proper noun Pickles
- A surname.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: jam, hole, fix, muddle, mess, cheese, pumpkin, souse, salt, idiot, trouble, embarrassment, cure, choice, dill pickle, pickle juice
Translations
Every language
noun children's game
| Deutsch | Neckball |
|---|
noun any vegetable preserved in vinegar and consumed as relish
| Español | encurtido |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 酢漬け suzuke |
| 中文 | 醃菜 /腌菜 yāncài, 鹹菜 /咸菜 xiáncài, 泡菜 pàocài |
| हिन्दी | अचार acār |
| Kiswahili | achali |
| Português | conservado, achar |
| Français | pickles |
| Deutsch | eingelegtes Gemüse |
| Italiano | sottaceti |
| Ελληνικά | τουρσί toursí |
| Română | murătură |
| Русский | соле́нье solénʹje |
| Tiếng Việt | dưa, đồ chua |
noun brine used for preserving food
| 한국어 | 간물 ganmul |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 塩水 shiomizu |
| Português | salmoura |
| Deutsch | Lake |
| Italiano | salamoia |
| Ελληνικά | γάρος gáros, άλμη álmi |
| Română | moare |
| Русский | рассо́л rassól |
noun difficult situation
| Deutsch | Tinte, Patsche, Schlamassel |
|---|---|
| Italiano | pasticcio, guaio |
noun affectionate term for a loved one
| Deutsch | Frechdachs |
|---|---|
| Italiano | diavoletto, birichino |
| Ελληνικά | διαβολάκι diavoláki, ζιζάνιο zizánio |
noun preserved cucumber
| Español | pepinillo |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 절임 jeorim, 피클 pikeul |
| 日本語 | 漬物 tsukemono, 漬け物 tsukemono, ピクルス pikurusu |
| 中文 | 醃黃瓜 /腌黄瓜 yānhuángguā |
| Português | picles |
| Français | cornichon |
| Deutsch | eingelegte Gurke, saure Gurke, Essiggurke, Gewürzgurke |
| Italiano | cetriolino, cetriolo sottaceto, cetriolino sottaceto |
| Ελληνικά | πίκλα píkla, τουρσί toursí |
| Română | castravete murat |
| Русский | солёный огуре́ц soljónyj oguréc, ки́слый огуре́ц kíslyj oguréc, ква́шеный огуре́ц kvášenyj oguréc, корнишо́н kornišón |
| Tiếng Việt | dưa chua, dưa muối |
| العربية | مُخَلَّل muḵallal |
| עברית | מלפפון חמוץ, חמוצים |
noun metalworking: bath of dilute sulphuric or nitric acid, etc.
| Italiano | decapaggio |
|---|
verb to preserve food in a salt, sugar or vinegar solution
| Español | encurtir, escabechar, conservar |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 漬ける tsukeru |
| 中文 | 腌菜 yāncài, 鹹菜 /咸菜 xiáncài, 泡菜 pàocài, 腌 yān |
| हिन्दी | अचार बनाना acār banānā |
| Português | conservar, salmourar |
| Français | saler |
| Deutsch | einlegen, pökeln |
| Română | mura |
| Русский | заса́ливать zasálivatʹ, соли́ть solítʹ, ква́сить kvásitʹ, засоли́ть zasolítʹ, маринова́ть marinate |
| Tiếng Việt | muối |
verb to remove high-temperature scale and oxidation from metal with heated industrial acid
| Deutsch | beizen |
|---|---|
| Italiano | decapaggio |
Talk about this word "pickle." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/pickle. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. pickle. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/pickle "pickle." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/pickle.Cite this
@misc{pickle_2026,
title = {pickle},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/pickle},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
