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PlainSpell

powder

/ˈpaʊ.dɚ/noun, verb

powder is spelled P-O-W-D-E-R: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 18 times per million words in written English, the 4,667th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, powder means “The fine particles which are the result of reducing a dry substance by pounding, grinding, or triturating, or the result of decay; dust” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of powder is powders.

How many letters and syllables are in powder?

Letters6: P-O-W-D-E-R
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing18 times per million words; the 4,667th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is powder?

Powder appears 18 times per million words in written English, the 4,667th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce powder?

  • UK /ˈpaʊ.də(ɹ)/
  • /ˈpuː.dɐ/
  • US /ˈpaʊ.dɚ/

Powder has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-powder.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with powder?

2 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as powder from its last stressed vowel (/aʊdəɹ/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of powder

  • powders plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • powdre
  • powdering participle, present
  • powdered participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does powder mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    The fine particles which are the result of reducing a dry substance by pounding, grinding, or triturating, or the result of decay; dust.

  2. 2

    slangCocaine in powder form (as opposed to crack).

  3. 3

    A mixture of fine dry, sweet-smelling particles applied to the face or other body parts, to reduce shine or to alleviate chaffing.

  4. 4

    An explosive mixture used in gunnery, blasting, etc.; gunpowder.

  5. 5

    informalEllipsis of powder snow; light, dry, fluffy snow.

  6. 6

    Ellipsis of powder blue, a color.

verb

  1. 1

    To reduce to fine particles; to pound, grind, or rub into a powder.

    25 October 2016, Bettina Elias Siegel writing in New York Times, Should the Food Industry Sneak Vegetables Into Food? In desperation, they dried fruits and vegetables in an old food dehydrator they had, then used their coffee grinder to pow

  2. 2

    To sprinkle with powder, or as if with powder.

    to powder one's hair

  3. 3

    To use powder on the hair or skin.

  4. 4

    To turn into powder; to become powdery.

  5. 5

    obsoleteTo sprinkle with salt; to corn, as meat.

  6. 6

    slangTo depart suddenly; to "take a powder".

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you abbreviate powder?

Wiktionary records one abbreviation of powder: pow.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Powder in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchpoudre (fine particles of any dry substance), réduire en poudre, pulvériser (to reduce to fine particles), poudrer, saupoudrer (to sprinkle with powder), se poudrer (to use powder on the hair or skin)
GermanPuder, n, Pulver (fine particles of any dry substance)
Portuguesepó (fine particles of any dry substance)
Spanishpolvo (fine particles of any dry substance), reducir a polvo, pulverizar, triturar (to reduce to fine particles), espolvorear (to sprinkle with powder), ponerse polvos (to use powder on the hair or skin)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does powder come from?

From Middle English poudre, pouder, pouldre, borrowed from Old French poudre, poldre, puldre, from Latin pulverem, accusative singular of Latin pulvis (“dust, powder”). Doublet of pulver. Compare pollen (“fine flour”), polverine, pulverize.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after powder