nurdle

American  

[nurd-uhl] / ˈnɜrd əl /

noun

nurdles plural

1. a tiny ball or pellet of unprocessed plastic, especially in the context of water or shoreline pollution.

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verb

1. Cricket. to hit (the ball) gently into areas of the field not occupied by the fielding team, typically as a way of earning single runs.

verb (used without object)

nurdled, nurdling

1. to ramble musingly or speculatively on a particular topic, especially a topic one is relatively ignorant about.

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• nurdles
  plural

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

That left Smith to nudge and nurdle a rebuild, doing so effectively by rotating the strike in partnerships of 56 with Marnus Labuschagne and 54 with Alex Carey.

From BBC • Mar. 4, 2025

A lot of New Orleanians have asked how to join a nurdle cleanup effort.

From Washington Times • Aug. 29, 2020

I fear we’ll nurdle to a 400 lead and run out of time tomorrow.”

From The Guardian • Dec. 29, 2015

“A nurdle of mathletes clustered around the whiteboard.”

From Washington Post • Nov. 24, 2015

Glaxo asked the court to stop Colgate from using any nurdle design similar to its own and also the "Triple Action" phrase.

From Reuters • Jul. 29, 2010