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:
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
Several government agencies, including the Coast Guard, Port of New Orleans and the state Department of Environmental Quality, have spent weeks trying to determine which of them should be responding to the nurdle spill.
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
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
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
At the start, Mr Katuwawala and his fellow volunteers "were collecting like 300-400 kilos of nurdles" each day.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2025
Clumps of tiny, molten pellets, known as "nurdles", are being washed up on its beaches, including in Skegness.
From BBC ● Mar. 20, 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.
