puddle
verbEtymology 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.
8 senses
- 1To form a puddle.
- 2To play or splash in a puddle.
- 3Of butterflies, to congregate on a puddle or moist…
- 4To process iron, gold, etc., by means of puddling.
- 5To line a canal with puddle (clay).
- 6To collect ideas, especially abstract concepts, into…
- 7To make (clay, loam, etc.) dense or close, by working it…
- 8To make foul or muddy; to pollute with dirt; to mix dirt…
To form a puddle.
To play or splash in a puddle.
Biology, Entomology, Natural sciences Of butterflies, to congregate on a puddle or moist substance to pick up nutrients.
To process iron, gold, etc., by means of puddling.
To line a canal with puddle (clay).
To collect ideas, especially abstract concepts, into rough subtopics or categories, as in study, research or conversation.
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.1991, Etienne, “In Enemy Hands”, in Drummer, number 151, page 32:
To make foul or muddy; to pollute with dirt; to mix dirt with (water).
- Some unhatched practice […] / Hath puddled his clear spirit.c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv]:
- Derived terms
- puddle up