pickle

pick·le  (pkl)

n.

1. An edible product, such as a cucumber, that has been preserved and flavored in a solution of brine or vinegar.

2. A solution of brine or vinegar, often spiced, for preserving and flavoring food.

3. A chemical solution, such as an acid, that is used as a bath to remove scale and oxides from the surface of metals before plating or finishing.

4. Informal A disagreeable or troublesome situation; a plight. See Synonyms at predicament.

5. Baseball A rundown.

tr.v. pick·led, pick·ling, pick·les

1. To preserve or flavor (food) in a solution of brine or vinegar.

2. To treat (metal) in a chemical bath.

---

[Middle English pikle, highly seasoned sauce, probably from Middle Dutch pekel, pickle, brine.]

Word History: Trade with the Low Countries across the North Sea was important to England in the later Middle Ages, and it is perhaps because of this trade that we have the word pickle. Middle English pikel, the ancestor of our word, is first recorded around 1400 with the meaning "a spicy sauce or gravy served with meat or fowl." This is a different sense from the one the word brings to mind now, but it is somewhat related in sense to its possible Middle Dutch source pekel, a solution, such as spiced brine, for preserving and flavoring food. After coming into English the word pickle expanded its sense range in several ways. It was applied, as it had been in Middle Dutch, to a pickling solution. Later pickle was used to refer to something so treated, such as a cucumber. The word also took on a figurative sense, "a troublesome situation," perhaps under the influence of a similar Dutch usage in the phrase in de pekel zitten, "sit in the pickle," and iemand in de pekel laten zitten, "let someone sit in the pickle."

---

pickle

Noun

1. (often pl) food, esp. vegetables preserved in vinegar or brine

2. a liquid or marinade, such as spiced vinegar, for preserving vegetables, meat, or fish

3. Informal an awkward or difficult situation: to be in a pickle, they are in a pickle over what to do with toxic waste

Verb

[-ling, -led]

to preserve or treat in a pickling liquid [probably Middle Dutch pekel]

---

Pickle a small amount. See mickle.

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	pickle - vegetables (especially cucumbers) preserved in brine or vinegar relish - spicy or savory condiment 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
	2.	pickle - informal terms for a difficult situation; "he got into a terrible fix"; "he made a muddle of his marriage" fix, kettle of fish, mess, muddle, jam, hole difficulty - a condition or state of affairs almost beyond one's ability to deal with and requiring great effort to bear or overcome; "grappling with financial difficulties" dog's breakfast, dog's dinner - a poor job; a mess; "they made a real dog's breakfast of that job"
Verb	1.	pickle - preserve in a pickling liquid cookery, cooking, preparation - the act of preparing something (as food) by the application of heat; "cooking can be a great art"; "people are needed who have experience in cookery"; "he left the preparation of meals to his wife" preserve, keep - prevent (food) from rotting; "preserved meats"; "keep potatoes fresh"

---

pickle

verb 1. preserve, marinade, keep, cure, steep

noun 2. chutney, relish, piccalilli

noun 3. (Informal) predicament, spot (informal) fix (informal) difficulty, bind (informal) jam (informal) dilemma, scrape (informal) hot water (informal) uphill S. African quandary, tight spot

Translations

pickle [ˈpɪkl] n (also: pickles) (as condiment) → escabeche m;

(fig) (= mess); apuro

vt → conservar en escabeche;

(in vinegar) → conservar en vinagre;

in a pickle → en un lío, en apuros

---

pickle [ˈpɪkl] n (also: pickles) (as condiment) → pickles mpl

vt → conserver dans du vinaigre or dans de la saumure;

in a pickle (fig) → dans le pétrin

---

pickle [ˈpɪkl] n (also: pickles) (as condiment) → Pickles pl

vt → einlegen;

to be in a pickle → in der Klemme sitzen;

to get in a pickle → in eine Klemme geraten

---

pickle [ˈpɪkl] n (also: pickles) (as condiment) → sottaceti mpl;

(fig): in a pickle → nei pasticci

vt → mettere sottaceto; mettere in salamoia