puddle

[puhd-l]

noun

1. a small pool of water, as of rainwater on the ground.

2. a small pool of any liquid.

3. clay or the like mixed with water and tempered, used as a waterproof lining for the walls of canals, ditches, etc.

verb (used with object)

puddled, puddling 

1. to mark or scatter with puddles.

2. to wet with dirty water, mud, etc.

3. to make (water) muddy or dirty.

4. to muddle or confuse.

5. to make (clay or the like) into puddle.

6. to cover with pasty clay or puddle.

7. Metallurgy.,  to subject (molten iron) to the process of puddling.

8. to destroy the granular structure of (soil) by agricultural operations on it when it is too wet.

9. Horticulture.,  to dip the roots of (a tree, shrub, etc.) into a thin mixture of loam and water to retard drying out during transplanting.

verb (used without object)

puddled, puddling 

1. to wade in a puddle.

   The children were puddling.

2. to be or become puddled.

   The backyard was puddling.

puddle

/ ˈpʌdəl /

noun

1. a small pool of water, esp of rain

2. a small pool of any liquid

3. a worked mixture of wet clay and sand that is impervious to water and is used to line a pond or canal

4. rowing the patch of eddying water left by the blade of an oar after completion of a stroke

verb

1. (tr) to make (clay, etc) into puddle

2. (tr) to subject (iron) to puddling

3. (intr) to dabble or wade in puddles, mud, or shallow water

4. (intr) to mess about

Other Word Forms

• puddler noun
• puddly adjective
• unpuddled adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of puddle¹

1300–50; (noun) Middle English puddel, podel, pothel, apparently diminutive of Old English pudd ditch, furrow (akin to Low German pudel puddle); (v.) late Middle English pothelen, derivative of the noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of puddle¹

C14 podel, diminutive of Old English pudd ditch, of obscure origin

Example Sentences

“This makes every sniff of holiday activity — foot traffic, discount depth, card authorizations — disproportionately important. In a data desert, even a puddle looks like a lake.”

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Damage was caused to a 500-year-old ruined castle after a visitor used part of a wall to make stepping stones across a large puddle.

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Muhari said nearly 1,000 people are still evacuated from the district and warned that the potential for subsequent landslides due to rain, water puddles and flowing springs may hamper operations.

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I feel like I did when I was in Tano’s temple, pretending to be his mother—I have one chance to get this right, or I’ll end up a puddle on the ground.

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“Certainly—whee!” she cried merrily, as Simon effortlessly scooped up her pregnant bulk and carried her over the puddle as if she weighed no more than a feather.

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Related Words

• pond