SPRINKLE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does sprinkle mean? 

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

1. a light shower that falls in some locations and not others nearby

2. the act of sprinkling or splashing water

  Familiarity information: SPRINKLE used as a noun is rare.

• SPRINKLE (verb)
  The verb SPRINKLE has 4 senses:

1. distribute loosely

2. cause (a liquid) to spatter about, especially with force

3. rain gently

4. scatter with liquid; wet lightly

  Familiarity information: SPRINKLE used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SPRINKLE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A light shower that falls in some locations and not others nearby

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Synonyms:

scattering; sprinkle; sprinkling

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

rain shower; shower (a brief period of precipitation)

Derivation:

sprinkle (rain gently)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The act of sprinkling or splashing water

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

sparge; sprinkle; sprinkling

Context example:

a sparge of warm water over the malt

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

watering (wetting with water)

Derivation:

sprinkle (scatter with liquid; wet lightly)

sprinkle (cause (a liquid) to spatter about, especially with force)

• SPRINKLE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they sprinkle    ... he / she / it sprinkles   
Past simple: sprinkled   
Past participle: sprinkled   
-ing form: sprinkling   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Distribute loosely

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

disperse; dot; dust; scatter; sprinkle

Context example:

He scattered gun powder under the wagon

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

discharge (pour forth or release)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "sprinkle"):

spray (scatter in a mass or jet of droplets)

spray (be discharged in sprays of liquid)

plash; spatter; splash; splatter; splosh; swash (dash a liquid upon or against)

splash; splosh; sprinkle (cause (a liquid) to spatter about, especially with force)

bespangle (dot or sprinkle with sparkling or glittering objects)

aerosolise; aerosolize (disperse as an aerosol)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP

Derivation:

sprinkling (a small number (of something) dispersed haphazardly)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Cause (a liquid) to spatter about, especially with force

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

splash; splosh; sprinkle

Context example:

She splashed the water around her

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

disperse; dot; dust; scatter; sprinkle (distribute loosely)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "sprinkle"):

salt (sprinkle as if with salt)

drizzle; moisten (moisten with fine drops)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody PP
Somebody ----s something PP
Somebody ----s something with something

Derivation:

sprinkle (the act of sprinkling or splashing water)

sprinkler (mechanical device that attaches to a garden hose for watering lawn or garden)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Rain gently

Classified under:

Verbs of raining, snowing, thawing, thundering

Synonyms:

patter; pitter-patter; spatter; spit; sprinkle

Context example:

It has only sprinkled, but the roads are slick

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

rain; rain down (precipitate as rain)

Sentence frame:

It is ----ing

Derivation:

sprinkle; sprinkling (a light shower that falls in some locations and not others nearby)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Scatter with liquid; wet lightly

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

besprinkle; sparge; sprinkle

Context example:

Sprinkle the lawn

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

wet (cause to become wet)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sentence example:

They sprinkle the bread with melted butter

Derivation:

sprinkle (the act of sprinkling or splashing water)

sprinkler (mechanical device that attaches to a garden hose for watering lawn or garden)

sprinkling (the act of sprinkling or splashing water)

 Context examples 

"Your sprinkling is all wrong," he complained next.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

I sprinkled water on her face.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

At the new moon of February 23, Mars will be working hard for you, and Uranus, your guardian planet, will be sprinkling the entire situation with a number of surprises.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Over it were sprinkled little stars that glistened in the sun like diamonds.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

Then they tore off her dainty clothing, laid her on a table, and cut her beautiful body into pieces, and sprinkled salt upon it.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

The cold evening breeze, of which I have spoken, whistled through every chink of the rude building and sprinkled the floor with a continual rain of fine sand.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Administration of a veterinary medicinal product by placing in or sprinkling over a beehive.

(In Beehive Route of Administration, NCI Thesaurus)

Someone had brought the water from the brook, and Lord John was sprinkling my head with it, while Challenger and Summerlee were propping me up, with concern in their faces.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"Do you say she makes a good living out of stories like this?" and Jo looked more respectfully at the agitated group and thickly sprinkled exclamation points that adorned the page.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

I was just beginning to stifle with the fumes of conservatory flowers and sprinkled essences, when I bethought myself to open the window and step out on to the balcony.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)