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pickle definition

pickle (pik′əl)

noun

  1. any brine, vinegar, or spicy solution used to preserve or marinate food
  2. a vegetable, specif. a cucumber, preserved in such a solution
  3. a chemical bath used to clear metal of scale, preserve wood, etc.
  4. Informal an awkward or difficult situation; plight

Etymology: ME pikil < MDu pekel < ? picken, to prick, in sense “that which pricks, or is piquant”

transitive verb pickled -·led, pickling -·ling

to treat with or preserve in a pickle solution

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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