puddle

/ˈpʌdl/

/ˈpʌdəl/

Other forms: puddles; puddling; puddled

A puddle is a small pool, such as one that forms on a sidewalk after a rain shower. A little boy with new rain boots might decide to jump in every puddle he sees on his way to school.

It's charming to see a puddle on a brick walkway or to watch a duck wash itself in a puddle. It's less charming to find a puddle in your basement after three days of rain. You can use puddle as a verb, too, to say, "I'm watching your cereal milk puddle in the middle of the table and wondering when you're planning to clean it up." Puddle comes from the Old English pudd, "ditch or furrow."

Definitions of puddle

1. noun

   a small body of standing water (rainwater) or other liquid
   “there were puddles of muddy water in the road after the rain”

   synonyms: pool

   types:

   billabong

   a stagnant pool of water in the bed of a stream that flows intermittently

   mud puddle

   a puddle of mud

   wallow

   a puddle where animals go to wallow

   type of:

   body of water, water

   the part of the earth's surface covered with water (such as a river or lake or ocean)
2. noun

   something resembling a pool of liquid
   “his chair sat in a puddle of books and magazines”

   synonyms: pool

   type of:

   place, spot, topographic point

   a point located with respect to surface features of some region
3. verb

   make into a puddle
   “puddled mire”

   synonyms: muddle

   type of:

   rile, roil

   make turbid by stirring up the sediments of
4. verb

   make a puddle by splashing water
   type of:

   plash, spatter, splash, splatter, splosh, swash

   dash a liquid upon or against
5. verb

   wade or dabble in a puddle
   “The ducks and geese puddled in the backyard”

   type of:

   wade

   walk (through relatively shallow water)
6. verb

   mess around, as in a liquid or paste
   “The children are having fun puddling in paint”

   type of:

   futz, mess around, monkey, monkey around, muck about, muck around, potter, putter, tinker

   do random, unplanned work or activities; spend time idly
7. verb

   work a wet mixture, such as concrete or mud
   type of:

   bundle, compact, pack, wad

   compress into a wad
8. verb

   subject to puddling or form by puddling
   “puddle iron”

   type of:

   forge, form, mold, mould, shape, work

   make something, usually for a specific function
9. noun

   a mixture of wet clay and sand that can be used to line a pond and that is impervious to water when dry
   type of:

   covering material

   a material used by builders to cover surfaces
10. verb

    dip into mud before planting
    “puddle young plants”

    type of:

    plant, set

    put or set (seeds, seedlings, or plants) into the ground
11. verb

    mix up or confuse
    synonyms: addle, muddle

    type of:

    confuse, jumble, mix up

    assemble without order or sense
12. verb

    eliminate urine
    synonyms:

    urinate

    pass after the manner of urine

    ca-ca, defecate, make, stool

    have a bowel movement

    types:

    wet

    make one's bed or clothes wet by urinating

    stale

    urinate, of cattle and horses

    type of:

    egest, eliminate, excrete, pass

    eliminate from the body