nurdle
Americannoun
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:
But each nurdle she drops in her bucket is potentially one less nurdle causing trouble in the belly of a fish, turtle or bird.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 29, 2020
Volunteer nurdle hunters on the Great Winter Nurdle Hunt searched their local shorelines in early February and the survey has found that 73% of 279 shorelines contain the plastics.
From BBC ● Feb. 17, 2017
He gets one with a nurdle off the hips, the only run of the over.
From The Guardian ● Dec. 29, 2015
Each company is seeking the right to depict, and to stop the other from depicting, a "nurdle," a wave-shaped toothpaste blob that sits on a toothbrush head.
From Reuters ● Jul. 29, 2010
Pattiaratchi said it was probably the worst nurdle spill in Sri Lanka’s history.
From Washington Post
The nurdles -- tiny pieces of plastic resin which are non-toxic but pose a risk to wildlife -- came from the Solong, which was carrying 15 containers of the pellets.
From Barron's ● Jan. 12, 2026
While an environmental disaster from the jet fuel spillage was averted, the coastguard undertook a clean-up operation after discovering clumps of plastic pellets, or nurdles, in the sea and washed ashore.
From Barron's ● Jan. 12, 2026
"The nurdles were getting more dispersed, it was harder to see them as they got buried in the sand over time."
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2025
Burnt tiny plastic pellets, known as nurdles, have been washed up along the east coast in the aftermath of the collision.
From BBC ● Mar. 28, 2025
More EDCs are released during plastics manufacturing, sometimes in air and water emissions, other times on the backs of nurdles, tiny plastic pellets that can be shaped into larger products.
From Salon ● Apr. 2, 2024
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
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
