# puddle

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈpʌdl̩/ · frequency rank #20,745

## Definitions
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.

## 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.

## Easily confused with
- **purple** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/puddle-vs-purple)
- **puzzle** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/puddle-vs-puzzle)
- **Purdue** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/puddle-vs-purdue)
- **paddle** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/paddle-vs-puddle)
- **poodle** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/poodle-vs-puddle)
- **peddle** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/peddle-vs-puddle)
- **peddler** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/peddler-vs-puddle)

## Common misspellings (7)
`pdudle`, `ppuddle`, `puddel`, `puddlle`, `pudlde`, `pudle`, `upddle`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/puddle