puddle
/ˈpʌdəl/noun, verb
puddle is spelled P-U-D-D-L-E: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 1.8 times per million words in written English, the 20,629th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, puddle means “A small, often temporary, pool of water, usually on a path or road” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of puddle is puddles.
How many letters and syllables are in puddle?
| Letters | 6: P-U-D-D-L-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.8 times per million words; the 20,629th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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).
How common is puddle?
Puddle appears 1.8 times per million words in written English, the 20,629th 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 puddle?
- US /ˈpʌdəl/
- /ˈpʊdəl/
- /ˈpədəl/
Puddle 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-puddle.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of puddle
- puddles plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- puddling participle, present
- puddled participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does puddle mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A small, often temporary, pool of water, usually on a path or road.
- 2
Stagnant or polluted water.
- 3
A homogeneous mixture of clay, water, and sometimes grit, used to line a canal or pond to make it watertight.
- 4
The ripple left by the withdrawal of an oar from the water.
verb
- 1
To form a puddle.
- 2
To play or splash in a puddle.
- 3
Of butterflies, to congregate on a puddle or moist substance to pick up nutrients.
- 4
To process iron, gold, etc., by means of puddling.
- 5
To line a canal with puddle (clay).
- 6
To collect ideas, especially abstract concepts, into rough subtopics or categories, as in study, research or conversation.
- 7
To make (clay, loam, etc.) dense or close, by working it when wet, so as to render impervious to water.
- 8
To make foul or muddy; to pollute with dirt; to mix dirt with (water).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Puddle in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | flaque, flaque d'eau, gouille , puddler |
| German | Pfütze, Lache, Lacke, Pfuhl |
| Portuguese | poça |
| Spanish | charco, poza, cocha, encharcada , pudelar |
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 puddle come from?
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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).