pestle
Americannoun
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a tool for pounding or grinding substances in a mortar.
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any of various appliances for pounding, stamping, etc.
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
noun
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a club-shaped instrument for mixing or grinding substances in a mortar
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a tool for pounding or stamping
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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pestlesimple
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pestlessimple
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have pestledperfect
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has pestledperfect
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am pestlingprogressive
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are pestlingprogressive
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is pestlingprogressive
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have been pestlingperfect progressive
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has been pestlingperfect progressive
Past
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pestledsimple
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had pestledperfect
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was pestlingprogressive
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were pestlingprogressive
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had been pestlingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of pestle
1300–50; Middle English pestel < Middle French < Latin pistillum, derivative of pistus, past participle of pīnsere to pound, crush
Explanation
A pestle is a heavy, blunt tool used to grind things up, such as spices or herbs. If you're grinding spices, you put them in a container called a mortar and use the pestle to smash them up until they're finely ground. The mortar and pestle was originally used by pharmacists to grind substances for medical use. Because they are sold together as sets and are always used together, many people aren't sure which is the mortar and which is the pestle. The origin of pestle is the Latin word pistillum, which means "pounder." This can help you remember that the pestle is the pounder. Also, pistillum looks like pistol, which is also held in the hand.
Vocabulary lists containing pestle
Pestle, Sieve, and Whisk: Useful Words for Cooking Tools
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
The Distance Between Us
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The Night Diary
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
A few had tooth structures that acted like a mortar and pestle and were able to grind in addition to just cutting.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 5, 2023
In a perfect pesto world, that frozen sauce is homemade — a mix of tiny-leafed Genovese basil, Italian pine nuts and good olive oil that you’ve pounded by hand with a mortar and pestle.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 30, 2023
The next morning, I pounded some lemongrass and some chiles in a mortar and pestle and made some green curry.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 12, 2023
The archaeologists say another possibility was the object was used as a pestle to grind ingredients for cosmetics or medicines, and its shape could have been thought to add perceived magical properties.
From BBC ● Feb. 20, 2023
He pushed me off, and I fell next to a pestle.
From "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier" by Ishmael Beah
She devised a system that hulled and cleaned corn kernels, and then used mechanical pestles or stamping mechanisms to process the kernels into meal that could be used to bake bread and make other food.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 9, 2026
The spice remains indicate that the stone mortars, pestles and grinding slabs found there were likely used for food preparation.
From Scientific American ● Jul. 21, 2023
Originally done simply with mortars and pestles, this task evolved along with the rise in agricultural production to include the use of larger stone tools.
From Textbooks ● Apr. 19, 2023
In Cooking, Shayma Owaise Saadat, a Pakistani Afghan recipe developer and writer who lives in Toronto, discusses the collection of mortars and pestles in her kitchen.
From New York Times ● Jan. 28, 2023
Their surfaces are scattered with beakers, tubes, droppers, spoons, a set of mortars and pestles, and graters.
From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton
It will be such a pestling device, sir Amorous; it will pound all your enemy's practices to powder, and blow him up with his own mine, his own train.
From Epicoene: Or, the Silent Woman by Jonson, Ben
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.
