sprinkle

CEFRB2

/ˈspɹɪŋkəl/

verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    verb

    To scatter small amounts of something over a surface.

  2. 02

    verb

    Extra detail

    To cover (an object) by sprinkling a substance on to it.

Examples

  • We sprinkle salt to ward off bad luck.

  • We sprinkle salt for purification.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
4

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meanings

  1. To drip in fine drops, sometimes sporadically.

  2. To cause (a substance) to fall in fine drops (for a liquid substance) or small pieces (for a solid substance).

  3. To rain very lightly outside.

More examples

In context

  • The confectioner sprinkled icing sugar over the cakes.

  • The confectioner sprinkled the cakes with icing sugar.

  • It began to sprinkle.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

She will blank salt onto the salad to give it extra flavor.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

verb

From Middle English sprenkelen, sprynklen, from Middle Dutch sprenkelen, equivalent to sprink + -le (frequentative suffix). Cognate with Dutch sprenkelen (“to sprinkle”), German Low German sprenkeln (“to sprinkle; dapple”), German sprenkeln (“to sprinkle”).