nurdle
Americannoun
-
nurdles
plural
verb
verb (used without object)
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Explanation
A nurdle is a tiny round pellet used in plastic production. It takes a lot of nurdles to make a plastic water bottle. It takes about 600 little plastic pellets to make one disposable water bottle, to be exact. That's a lot of nurdles! When you hear people talk about "microplastics" in the ocean, they're often referring to nurdles. These building blocks of plastic production are also what's left over when these products break down, and they're a major source of pollution. We know nurdle was coined in the 1990s, but otherwise its etymology is a mystery.
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.
See Examples For:
What is a nurdle and why do they matter?
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
A lot of New Orleanians have asked how to join a nurdle cleanup effort.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 29, 2020
“A nurdle of mathletes clustered around the whiteboard.”
From Washington Post ● Nov. 24, 2015
When they brought the field up I thought he would just dart it in and I would have to nurdle it for one.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 30, 2010
Colgate asked the court to declare that its "Triple Action" phrase and nurdle are not confusingly similar to Glaxo's "Triple Protection" phrase and nurdle design in other colors.
From Reuters ● Jul. 29, 2010
Environmental charity Fidra said it was unclear how long the clean-up would need to continue, considering the fact that nurdles could stay in water for years.
From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2026
She said the nurdles could affect wildlife in various ways, including getting stuck in animal digestive tracts and adsorbing chemicals which then may be toxic to wildlife when ingested.
From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2026
The team's modelling so far suggests about one in eight of the billion nurdles remain in the Tyne estuary and high river flows could flush these microplastics downstream in the autumn.
From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2026
Simonsen said she had collected nurdles from 10 different spots along the Danish coast and Sylt in Germany.
From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026
As of September, about 28% of the nurdles are believed to have been recovered.
From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026
The left-hander regularly nudged and nurdled through the leg side.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2025
Father Steve "nurdled a few with the bat and bowled some medium-pace" for Maldon, Alastair Cook's former club, while Jack was "probably more talented" and is now Essex's team analyst.
From BBC ● May 19, 2025
Lara nurdled and nudged his way to 12 before Anderson Cummins bowled him round his legs … off a no ball.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 18, 2016
When you open the app, Uber’s logo flaps briefly before disappearing to reveal the city streets around you, and the grey, yet promising shapes of vehicles nurdling nearby.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 27, 2016
Occasionally he flicked the ball through midwicket with his bottom hand dominant or prodded and deflected, only breaking up his nurdling to swat legside fours when North and Hauritz blundered on length.
From The Guardian ● May 2, 2013
Naeem is playing with freedom, nurdling a two off his legs, while Tahir strays with a legside wide.
From BBC ● Mar. 19, 2011
Swann teasing and testing with almost every ball, but Kayes does manage to get him away for a single, nurdling off his pads for a single.
From BBC ● May 30, 2010
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