I. ˈpikəl noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English pekille, probably from Middle Dutch pekel, peekel; perhaps akin to Middle Dutch picken, pecken to prick, pick — more at pick
1.
a. : a salt-and-water solution for preserving or corning fish or meat : brine
b. : plain or spiced vinegar for preserving vegetables, fruit, fish, eggs, oysters
c. : a bath usually of sulfuric acid and salt for treating skins after bating in chrome tanning
d. : a bath of dilute sulfuric or nitric acid used to cleanse or brighten the surface of castings or other articles of metal
e. : a solution of caustic soda or other antiseptic used for cleaning wort or beer pipes
f. : any of various solutions (as of alcohol or formaldehyde) in which organic substances are soaked for preservation
2.
a. : an unpleasant or difficult situation or condition : plight , predicament , trouble
b. chiefly Britain : a state of disorder : mess
small boy who had … left a bathroom in a pickle — C.S.Lewis
3.
a. : an article of food (as a cucumber) that has been preserved in brine or in vinegar
sour as a pickle
b. dialect : a fresh cucumber
4.
a. Britain : a mischievous or troublesome person
b. : a person with a forbidding face or unsociable disposition
Synonyms: see predicament
•
- in pickle
II. transitive verb
( pickled ; pickled ; pickling -k(ə)liŋ ; pickles )
1.
a. : to steep in a solution of salt or vinegar for preservation
pickle herring
pickle fruit in syrup and vinegar
b. : to soak in a chemical solution in order to cleanse
pickle steel castings
or condition
pickled leather
pickled seeds to induce sprouting
c. : to steep or soak (as seed) in a fungicide for the control of seed-borne diseases
d. : to hold (cut flowers) under refrigeration for an extended period of time with or without the use of a material in order to lengthen the life
2.
a. : to give an antique appearance to — used of copies or imitations of paintings by the old masters
b. : to give a light finish to (as a piece of furniture) by bleaching or painting and wiping
paneled in pickled pine
3. : to rub salt or salt and vinegar on (a wound made by flogging)
III. verb
Etymology: Middle English pikelen, from piken to pick + -len -le
1. chiefly Scotland : to pick a little at a time : eat sparingly or mincingly
2. chiefly Scotland : trifle , dawdle
3. chiefly Scotland : pilfer
IV. noun
( -s )
Etymology: perhaps from pickle (III)
1. : grain , kernel
2. dialect : a small quantity or amount — usually with no preposition following
get my pickle meal — Sir Walter Scott