coddle
to treat tenderly; nurse or tend indulgently; pamper: to coddle children when they're sick.
to cook (eggs, fruit, etc.) in water that is just below the boiling point; cook gently.
Origin of coddle
1Other words for coddle
Other words from coddle
- coddler, noun
- un·cod·dled, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use coddle in a sentence
Congressional conservatives have vigorously attacked the Miranda rule since its creation, arguing that it coddles criminals.
Boys take to such things naturally unless they are molly coddles.
A Daughter of the Union | Lucy Foster MadisonYou are not mollie-coddles and probably would come out all right, anyhow.
The Boy Scouts of Bob's Hill | Charles Pierce BurtonAnd most people, according to his opinion, were just a set of slack-kneed molly-coddles that sheered off at the first encounter.
Dry Fish and Wet | Anthon Bernhard Elias NilsenThe Board coddles me like a rare bit of old china and proudly exhibits me to visitors.
The Camp Fire Girls on the Open Road | Hildegard G. Frey
My old spinster cousin Ermelin pets and coddles me like an invalid.
The Eight Strokes of the Clock | Maurice Le Blanc
British Dictionary definitions for coddle
/ (ˈkɒdəl) /
to treat with indulgence
to cook (something, esp eggs) in water just below the boiling point
Irish dialect stew made from ham and bacon scraps
Origin of coddle
1Derived forms of coddle
- coddler, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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