Pickles

How to spell pickles

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce pickles

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does pickles mean?

1. nounVegetables, especially cucumbers, that have been preserved in vinegar or brine.
2. verbPreserves food in vinegar or brine (third person singular present).

Pickles in a sentence

• noun

  The deli stacked a row of crunchy pickles beside the sandwiches.

• verb

  Every autumn he pickles the surplus beetroot from the garden.

• noun

  She packed the burgers with cheese, onions, and sliced pickles.

• verb

  The farm shop pickles its own onions for the winter market.

Where does pickles come from?

Language of origin: Dutch

The word goes back to the Middle Dutch and Middle Low German pekel, meaning a salty brine or spiced liquor used to preserve food. English borrowed it in the late 1300s as 'pickle', first naming the seasoned, vinegary or salty liquid itself rather than the food soaked in it. Over time the sense shifted from the brine to the preserved vegetables sitting inside it, which is how a cucumber soaked in vinegar came to be called a pickle. The familiar figurative phrase 'in a pickle', meaning in a difficult or messy situation, grew out of the image of being stewed in such a mixture and was already in use by Shakespeare's day. The plural simply adds -s, and the spelling keeps the original -ckle ending that mirrors its Dutch and Low German ancestor.

How the word is built

• pickle (from Middle Dutch pekel: brine, salt liquor)
• -s (plural / third-person verb suffix)