pickle

B2 Topic:Food & Drink

US /ˈpɪkəl/ See IPA manual

Freq #8714

Meanings

1

noun
A cucumber or other vegetable preserved in vinegar or salty water.

A crunchy pickle goes really well with a burger.
2

verb
To preserve food by keeping it in vinegar or salty water.

My grandmother likes to pickle onions every autumn.
3

noun
A difficult or awkward situation.

I'm in a real pickle because I've lost my keys and my wallet.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

3 noun · a difficult or awkward... bind difficulty dilemma fix

Word family

Forms pickledpicklespickling

Derived forms fricklekoolicklepickle-herringpickleablepicklebackpickleballpickledpickleheadpicklelesspicklelikepicklemanpickler

Related forms piccalilli

Appears in

Phrases (1)

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pickle barrel
a barrel used to hold cucumbers in pickling liquid

Noun + noun

Idioms (2)

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Tongue twisters (1)

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Peter Piper
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. Did Peter Piper pick a peck of pickled peppers? If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, Where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?

Close both lips for each /p/, and keep the end of picked distinct from pick. Start one line at a time before joining the four lines.

Etymology

From Middle English pikel (“spicy sauce served with meat or fish”), borrowed from Middle Dutch, Middle Low German pekel (“brine”). Cognate with Scots pikkill (“salt liquor, brine”), Saterland Frisian Piekele (“pickle, brine”), Dutch pekel (“pickle, brine”), Low German pekel, peckel, pickel, bickel (“pickle, brine”), German Pökel (“pickle, brine”), Icelandic pækill (“brine”).

pikel Middle English pekel gml

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Food & Drink

External links

# pickle

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈpɪkəl/
**Frequency rank:** 8714

## Meanings
1. A cucumber or other vegetable preserved in vinegar or salty water.
2. To preserve food by keeping it in vinegar or salty water.
3. A difficult or awkward situation.

## Examples
- A crunchy pickle goes really well with a burger.
- My grandmother likes to pickle onions every autumn.
- I'm in a real pickle because I've lost my keys and my wallet.

## Derived Forms
- frickle
- koolickle
- pickle-herring
- pickleable
- pickleback
- pickleball
- pickled
- picklehead
- pickleless
- picklelike
- pickleman
- pickler

## Related Forms
- piccalilli

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: pikel
- Root: pekel

## Etymology
From Middle English pikel (“spicy sauce served with meat or fish”), borrowed from Middle Dutch, Middle Low German pekel (“brine”). Cognate with Scots pikkill (“salt liquor, brine”), Saterland Frisian Piekele (“pickle, brine”), Dutch pekel (“pickle, brine”), Low German pekel, peckel, pickel, bickel (“pickle, brine”), German Pökel (“pickle, brine”), Icelandic pækill (“brine”).

## AI Etymology
Pickle comes from Middle English pikel (“spicy sauce served with meat or fish”), borrowed from Middle Dutch, Middle Low German pekel (“brine”). Cognate with Scots pikkill (“salt liquor, brine”), Saterland Frisian Piekele (“pickle, brine”), Dutch pekel (“pickle, brine”), Low German pekel, peckel, pickel, bickel (“pickle, brine”), German Pökel (“pickle, brine”), Icelandic pækill (“brine”). In present-day English it covers a cucumber or other vegetable preserved in vinegar or salty water, to preserve food by keeping it in vinegar or salty water, and a difficult or awkward situation. The wider family includes derived forms such as frickle, koolickle, pickle-herring, pickleable, pickleback and related forms such as piccalilli.

## Topics
- Food & Drink

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pickle

Meanings

Verb forms

Thesaurus

Appears in

Phrases (1)

Idioms (2)

Tongue twisters (1)

Etymology

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