PICKLE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does pickle mean? 

• PICKLE (noun)
  The noun PICKLE has 2 senses:

1. vegetables (especially cucumbers) preserved in brine or vinegar

2. informal terms for a difficult situation

  Familiarity information: PICKLE used as a noun is rare.

• PICKLE (verb)
  The verb PICKLE has 1 sense:

1. preserve in a pickling liquid

  Familiarity information: PICKLE used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PICKLE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Vegetables (especially cucumbers) preserved in brine or vinegar

Classified under:

Nouns denoting foods and drinks

Hypernyms ("pickle" is a kind of...):

relish (spicy or savory condiment)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "pickle"):

gherkin (any of various small cucumbers pickled whole)

caper (pickled flower buds used as a pungent relish in various dishes and sauces)

dill pickle (pickle preserved in brine or vinegar flavored with dill seed)

sweet pickle (pickle cured in brine and preserved in sugar and vinegar)

Derivation:

pickle (preserve in a pickling liquid)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Informal terms for a difficult situation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

fix; hole; jam; kettle of fish; mess; muddle; pickle

Context example:

he made a muddle of his marriage

Hypernyms ("pickle" is a kind of...):

difficulty (a condition or state of affairs almost beyond one's ability to deal with and requiring great effort to bear or overcome)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "pickle"):

dog's breakfast; dog's dinner (a poor job; a mess)

• PICKLE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they pickle    ... he / she / it pickles   
Past simple: pickled   
Past participle: pickled   
-ing form: pickling   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Preserve in a pickling liquid

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "pickle" is one way to...):

keep; preserve (prevent (food) from rotting)

Domain category:

cookery; cooking; preparation (the act of preparing something (as food) by the application of heat)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

The chefs pickle the vegetables

Derivation:

pickle (vegetables (especially cucumbers) preserved in brine or vinegar)

 Context examples 

I want their pickles and wines, and that.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

"Perhaps I'll get myself in a pickle."

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Humph! said Miss Murdstone, still keeping her eye on the pickles; it is of more importance than anything else—it is of paramount importance—that my brother should not be disturbed or made uncomfortable.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Tragedies and cravats, poetry and pickles, garden seeds and long letters, music and gingerbread, rubbers, invitations, scoldings, and puppies.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

We are like to have salt water upon us until we be found pickled like the herrings in an Easterling's barrels.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Why, I owe at least a dozen pickled limes, and I can't pay them, you know, till I have money, for Marmee forbade my having anything charged at the shop.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Foraging about, I found a bottle with some brandy left, for Hands; and for myself I routed out some biscuit, some pickled fruits, a great bunch of raisins, and a piece of cheese.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

A dark store-room opens out of it, and that is a place to be run past at night; for I don't know what may be among those tubs and jars and old tea-chests, when there is nobody in there with a dimly-burning light, letting a mouldy air come out of the door, in which there is the smell of soap, pickles, pepper, candles, and coffee, all at one whiff.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Unfortunately, Mr. Davis particularly detested the odor of the fashionable pickle, and disgust added to his wrath.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Among them I remember a double set of pigs' trotters, a huge pin-cushion, half a bushel or so of apples, a pair of jet earrings, some Spanish onions, a box of dominoes, a canary bird and cage, and a leg of pickled pork.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)