I. ˈpəd ə l noun
( -s )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English podel, pothel; akin to Old English pudd ditch, Low German pudel puddle, and perhaps to Old English puduc wart — more at pudding
1.
a.
(1) : a shallow depression full of water and especially of muddy or dirty water
a hard rain leaves puddles in the road
(2) : a little pool of any kind
prodded a little puddle of beer by his glass — Earle Birney
puddles of moonlight on the floor — T.W.Duncan
b. archaic : ditch water
hard roots my only food, foul puddle all my drink — John Crowne
c. obsolete : pond , marsh
near to a long puddle or moorish ground, of some four miles long — Edward Barton
2.
a.
(1) : something that resembles a puddle in form
most men live in a little puddle of light thrown by the gig-lamps of habit — Aldous Huxley
a small puddle of minced veal on toast — Robert Standish
(2) : something suggestive of a puddle of foul or dirty liquid : a contaminating circumstance or condition : mess , sink
would have us believe … that in spite of all the puddles through which the priestly politician splashed to reach his ends, no spot or stain ever smutched his gown — V.L.Parrington
b. : muddle
stand and look over the little puddle of empty desks — W.A.White
3.
a.
(1) : an earthy mixture (as of clay, sand and gravel) worked while wet into a compact mass that becomes impervious to water when dry
(2) : tamper c
b. : a thin mixture of soil and water for puddling plants
4. : the molten portion of a weld
II. verb
( puddled ; puddled ; puddling -d( ə )liŋ ; puddles )
Etymology: Middle English podelen, pothelen, from podel, pothel, n.
intransitive verb
1.
a. : to dabble or wade around in a puddle
in the ooze … a brood of goslings puddled — Rockwell Kent
b. : to dawdle or mess around : putter
children spent yesterday afternoon puddling in paint, plasticene, and paste — Springfield (Massachusetts) Union
2.
a. : to make a puddle
spray heaved in over the side, puddling on the slippery deck — Irwin Shaw
specifically : urinate
baby … alternately dozed and puddled — Ann Leighton
b. : to become a puddle
slithering on the puddling brown snow — William Sansom
transitive verb
1.
a. : to stir up : make muddy or turbid : muddle , roil
great pails of puddled mire — Shakespeare
the bartender went on puddling an old-fashioned — E.B.White
b. archaic : to make murky : befuddle , confuse
something sure of state … hath puddled his clear spirit — Shakespeare
c. : to immerse in a liquid
the crystals are puddled with syrup to make a fluid mass — Oil-Power
specifically : to separate (ore) from sticky clay by washing in a shallow tank
2.
a.
(1) : to work (a wet mixture of earth or concrete) into a dense impervious mass
hand methods of compacting concrete mixtures include puddling, spading, and tamping — J.H.Bateman
specifically : to combine with water into an impervious cover or lining
a dew pond … constructed of straw and puddled clay — Norman Wymer
(2) archaic : to cover or line with puddle
puddle the seams of the rock on that side of the well — Henry Stephens
b.
(1) : to work (metal) while molten
enabling the iron to be puddled into a bloom — Juliusz Slaski
specifically : to form (molten metal) into a desired shape
carefully puddled ingots of aluminum into “contemporary amorphic baroque” blobs, then welded them to the steeple's base — Time
(2) : to subject (iron) to the process of puddling
c. : to texture (stage scenery) by running together small colored puddles of paint
3.
a. : to strew or pock with puddles
meltwater puddles the flat sea ice
cattle puddle the soft ground around the water hole with their hooves
b. : to render (soil) hard and dense by compacting
splash erosion … puddles surface soils and causes surface seals — Scientific Monthly
once soils are puddled badly, it may require several seasons to restore them to good tilth — A.F.Gustafson
c.
(1) : to dip the roots of (a plant) in a thin mud before transplanting
(2) : to saturate the soil around (a plant) in order to settle the dirt around the roots or to supply moisture, nutriment, or an insecticide