pickle

¹ American  

[pik-uhl] / ˈpɪk əl /

noun

1. a cucumber that has been preserved in brine, vinegar, or the like.

2. Often pickles any other vegetable, as cauliflower, celery, etc., preserved in vinegar and eaten as a relish.

3. something preserved in a brine or marinade.

4. a liquid usually prepared with salt or vinegar for preserving or flavoring fish, meat, vegetables, etc.; brine or marinade.

5. Metallurgy. an acid or other chemical solution in which metal objects are dipped to remove oxide scale or other adhering substances.

6. Informal. a troublesome or awkward situation; predicament.

   I was in a pickle after the check bounced.

   Synonyms:

   jam, scrape, bind, fix, quandary, plight

7. Informal. a sour, disagreeable person.

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verb (used with object)

• pickles,
  present (3rd person singular)
• pickled,
  past participle,  past
• pickling
  present participle

1. to preserve or steep in brine or other liquid.

2. to treat with a chemical solution, as for the purpose of cleaning.

3. to give a pale, streaked finish to (wood) by applying and partly removing paint or by bleaching, as to give an appearance of age.

4. Slang. to store; prepare for long-range storage.

   Let's pickle these old cars for a few years.

pickle ² American  

[pik-uhl] / ˈpɪk əl /

noun

Scot. and North England.

1. a single grain or kernel, as of barley or corn.

2. a small amount; a little.

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pickle British  

/ ˈpɪkəl /

noun

1. (often plural) vegetables, such as cauliflowers, onions, etc, preserved in vinegar, brine, etc

2. any food preserved in this way

3. a liquid or marinade, such as spiced vinegar, for preserving vegetables, meat, fish, etc

4. a cucumber that has been preserved and flavoured in a pickling solution, such as brine or vinegar

5. informal an awkward or difficult situation

   to be in a pickle

6. informal a mischievous child

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verb

1. to preserve in a pickling liquid

2. to immerse (a metallic object) in a liquid, such as an acid, to remove surface scale

pickle Idioms  

1. see in a fix (pickle).

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• pickler
  noun

Inflected Forms

Participles

• pickling
  present
• pickled
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• pickle
  simple
• pickles
  simple
• have pickled
  perfect
• has pickled
  perfect
• am pickling
  progressive
• are pickling
  progressive
• is pickling
  progressive
• have been pickling
  perfect progressive
• has been pickling
  perfect progressive

Past

• pickled
  simple
• had pickled
  perfect
• was pickling
  progressive
• were pickling
  progressive
• had been pickling
  perfect progressive

Future

• will pickle
  simple
• will have pickled
  perfect
• will be pickling
  progressive
• will have been pickling
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of pickle¹

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English pikel, pikkel “spicy sauce or gravy,” from Middle Dutch, Middle Low German pekel(e), peeckel “brine, pickle”

Origin of pickle²

First recorded in 1545–55; of uncertain origin; perhaps noun use of pickle “to take tiny bits of food in eating,” frequentative of pick ¹; see -le

Explanation

A pickle is a food that's made by soaking vegetables in brine or vinegar. If you are wondering what that crunchy green wedge beside your sandwich is, it just may be a pickle. While the most familiar pickles in the US are the thin disks or small, crunchy pickled cucumbers you can buy in jars, there are many other kinds of pickles. You can pickle just about any vegetable, from beets to okra to cucumbers — or even hard boiled eggs. In South Asian cuisines, pickle is a delicious spicy relish served aside many dishes. And if you find yourself in a really messy situation, you can say, "Wow, what a pickle."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pickle pickles pickled pickling

In Chicago, we have a phrase for what happens to a hot dog after it has been loaded with tomatoes, onions, peppers and pickle: it’s been “dragged through the garden.”

From Salon ● Sep. 15, 2026

For every trending supplement, there is an unprocessed, wholefood alternative – from the anti-inflammatory benefits of turmeric, staving off cramp with pickle juice or consumption of high-nitrate foods like beetroot before competition.

From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026

I like this recipe in particular because if the farmers market has otherwise failed you, there is a decent chance the pickle table has not.

From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026

I asked her about the most surprising pickle products she came across in her reporting, and if she gave any of them a try:

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026

And he would refuse to eat everything offered to him, always turning his nose away as though someone were offering him a stinky pickle and not a sweet cake.

From "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan

Veggies, salads, pizza, wings, fries, caviar, pickles, cottage cheese, ice cream—they’re all eminently ranchable.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026

For example, "I love pickles. I know that if I eat too many pickles I'm gonna feel ill."

From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026

His pickles take three to five days to prepare.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026

It wasn’t enough to make the dressing taste like pickles, exactly.

From Salon ● Jul. 7, 2026

“Mr. Weidenbach has asked me not to enter my bread-and- butter pickles into competition at the fair this year.”

From "A Long Way from Chicago" by Richard Peck

No matter what, I start with the pickled vegetables then I get one of the hamachi rolls.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026

I took a bite of the buttery Texas toast and the crinkle-cut fries, then dipped them into the creamy, peppery Cane’s Sauce, which tasted something like pickled ranch.

From Slate ● Aug. 24, 2026

My first Japanese Wagyu meal at a steakhouse—a 4-ounce rib-eye served with wasabi alongside vinegary dishes and pickled vegetables that cut against the fat—changed everything.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026

"We have ham, pickled garlic, tahini, and stinky tofu and liquor. Just below my office is a shop whose speciality is vodka, foie gras and apple in one scoop," says Yan.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

Today at supper, I wanted to pick one of everything they were offering—boiled, broiled, roasted, pickled.

From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan

Still, I thought Klapper might tell me to stop pickling, but he didn’t.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 1, 2026

While drying or pickling might preserve its taste, photography best preserves its beauty.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2025

"My life changed just from pickling a cucumber," Maddi Neye-Swift told the BBC as she picked up her award for food creator of the year.

From BBC ● Dec. 3, 2024

This means you’ll have lots of peppers available for canning, pickling and serving roasted and stuffed to large groups of guests.

From Seattle Times ● May 8, 2024

Or indeed, having been so luckily preserved, what good had her pickling accomplished for either herself or the world?

From "The Great Gilly Hopkins" by Katherine Paterson