puddle

Pronunciation: /ˈpʌdəl/

The English word “puddle” has 12 meanings listed here.

noun

A small, often temporary, pool of water, usually on a path or road.
Stagnant or polluted water.
A homogeneous mixture of clay, water, and sometimes grit, used to line a canal or pond to make it watertight.
The ripple left by the withdrawal of an oar from the water.

verb

To form a puddle.
To play or splash in a puddle.
Of butterflies, to congregate on a puddle or moist substance to pick up nutrients.
To process iron, gold, etc., by means of puddling.
To line a canal with puddle (clay).
To collect ideas, especially abstract concepts, into rough subtopics or categories, as in study, research or conversation.
To make (clay, loam, etc.) dense or close, by working it when wet, so as to render impervious to water.
To make foul or muddy; to pollute with dirt; to mix dirt with (water).

Etymology

From Middle English podel, diminutive of Old English pudd (“ditch”), from Proto-Germanic *puddaz (compare Low German Pudel (“puddle”), Middle High German podel (“quagmire, mudhole”), Hunsrik Puttel, dialectal German Pfudel (“puddle”), German pudeln (“to splash about”)), ultimately imitative.

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.