puddle

play

noun pud·dle \ ˈpə-dᵊl \

Definition of puddle

1 :a very small pool of usually dirty or muddy water

2 a :an earthy mixture (as of clay, sand, and gravel) worked while wet into a compact mass that becomes impervious to water when dry

b :a thin mixture of soil and water for puddling plants

See puddle defined for English-language learners

See puddle defined for kids

Examples of puddle in a Sentence

She accidentally stepped in a puddle and got her shoes wet.
After the storm, the road was covered in deep puddles.

Recent Examples of puddle from the Web

Frequently change water in bird baths and pet bowls. Drain small puddles after heavy rainstorms.

— sarah brookbank, Cincinnati.com, "West Nile virus found in Hamilton County mosquitoes," 7 Aug. 2017
And the film is something of a travelogue, visiting glaciers turning to puddles, Miami streets becoming rivers.

— christopher borrelli, chicagotribune.com, "Climate change detrimental to Midwest, says Al Gore," 4 Aug. 2017
As Mockett began exploring, his boots splashed through deep puddles of oily seawater left behind by three days of firefighting.

— Bloomberg.com, "The Hijacking of the Brillante Virtuoso," 27 July 2017
That includes puddles, bird baths and spaces between your front lawn and sidewalk.

— michael katz, idahostatesman, "Waiting for West Nile: Rain, heat create a ‘perfect storm’ for the virus in Idaho," 22 July 2017
Both Thundercat’s 2011 album The Golden Age of the Apocalypse and his 2017 album Drunk take Coltrane-scale work and melt it into puddles of enharmonic bliss with profound authority.

— zach graham, GQ, "The John Coltrane Record That Made Modern Music," 17 July 2017
What appears to be a fire hose is shown on the floor in a large puddle of water.

— CBS News, "Victims identified in deadly Hawaii highrise fire," 15 July 2017
There were no seats, either, as everyone maneuvered their way around puddles of mystery liquids and carts of oranges and stands of Fiji water, to find a suitable position from which to station themselves.

— josh duboff, Vanities, "Jake Gyllenhaal and Julianne Moore Spent Their Tuesday Night in a Chinatown Market for Raf Simons," 12 July 2017
There were no seats, either, as everyone maneuvered their way around puddles of mystery liquids and carts of oranges and stands of Fiji water, to find a suitable position from which to station themselves.

— vanityfair.com, "Jake Gyllenhaal and Julianne Moore Spent Their Tuesday Night in a Chinatown Market for Raf Simons," 12 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'puddle.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of puddle

Middle English podel; akin to Low German pudel puddle, Old English pudd ditch

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

See Words from the same year

puddle Synonyms

Synonyms

billabong [Australian], mere [chiefly British], ¹pool, stank [British dialect], well

Related Words

basin, hole, sinkhole; swimming pool; lake, pond, water hole

puddle

verb

Definition of puddle

puddled; puddling play \ˈpəd-liŋ, ˈpə-dᵊl-iŋ\

intransitive verb

:to dabble or wade around in a puddle

transitive verb

1 :to make muddy or turbid :muddle

2 a :to work (a wet mixture of earth or concrete) into a dense impervious mass

b :to subject (iron) to the process of puddling

3 a :to strew with puddles

b :to compact (soil) especially by working when too wet

c :to dip the roots of (a plant) in a thin mud before transplanting

—

puddler

play \ˈpəd-lər, ˈpə-dᵊl-ər\ noun

Recent Examples of puddle from the Web

Police found Tice dead on the floor in his home office, blood puddled around his head.

— the denver post, The Mercury News, "California yoga mogul’s mysterious death: Trevor Tice’s drunken last hours detailed," 27 Jan. 2017
Police found Tice dead on the floor in his home office, blood puddled around his head.

— the denver post, The Mercury News, "California yoga mogul’s mysterious death: Trevor Tice’s drunken last hours detailed," 27 Jan. 2017
Police found Tice dead on the floor in his home office, blood puddled around his head.

— The Denver Post, "Coroner’s report details drunken last hours of CorePower Yoga founder Trevor Tice," 26 Jan. 2017
Guests, puddling on the floor, were arrayed around a little park planted with firs and bordered by an iron bench.

— vanessa friedman, New York Times, "The Thinking Woman’s Runway," 17 Feb. 2016
Water oozes and trickles and puddles up through the steamy, planar landscape.

— by michael browning, miamiherald, "A desolated landscape: the toll of Hurricane Andrew," 25 Aug. 2015
Ewers's racy advertisements for Wang—the first, spread-eagled on a bathroom sink wearing a 'Parental Advisory: Explicit Content' shirt, and for Wang's first denim campaign, reclining on a chair naked, jeans puddled around her ankles—

— laura brown, Harper's BAZAAR, "The Babe: Anna Ewers," 8 Apr. 2015

First Known Use of puddle

15th century

PUDDLE Defined for English Language Learners

puddle

play

noun

Definition of puddle for English Language Learners

: a small amount of water, mud, etc., on the ground

PUDDLE Defined for Kids

puddle

play

noun pud·dle \ ˈpə-dᵊl \

Definition of puddle for Students

:a very small pool of liquid

Learn More about puddle

See words that rhyme with puddle Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for puddle Spanish Central: Translation of puddle Nglish: Translation of puddle for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of puddle for Arabic speakers

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Related Words

puddle

Definition of puddle

puddler

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First Known Use of puddle

PUDDLE Defined for English Language Learners

puddle

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