Library / English Dictionary

SPRINKLE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The act of sprinkling or splashing water

Example:

a sparge of warm water over the malt

Synonyms:

sparge; sprinkle; sprinkling

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("sprinkle" is a kind of...):

watering (wetting with water)

Derivation:

sprinkle (scatter with liquid; wet lightly)

sprinkle (cause (a liquid) to spatter about, especially with force)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A light shower that falls in some locations and not others nearby

Synonyms:

scattering; sprinkle; sprinkling

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Hypernyms ("sprinkle" is a kind of...):

rain shower; shower (a brief period of precipitation)

Derivation:

sprinkle (rain gently)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Scatter with liquid; wet lightly

Example:

Sprinkle the lawn

Synonyms:

besprinkle; sparge; sprinkle

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "sprinkle" is one way to...):

wet (cause to become wet)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sentence example:

They sprinkle the bread with melted butter

Derivation:

sprinkle (the act of sprinkling or splashing water)

sprinkler (mechanical device that attaches to a garden hose for watering lawn or garden)

sprinkling (the act of sprinkling or splashing water)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Cause (a liquid) to spatter about, especially with force

Example:

She splashed the water around her

Synonyms:

splash; splosh; sprinkle

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "sprinkle" is one way to...):

disperse; dot; dust; scatter; sprinkle (distribute loosely)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "sprinkle"):

salt (sprinkle as if with salt)

drizzle; moisten (moisten with fine drops)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody PP
Somebody ----s something PP
Somebody ----s something with something

Derivation:

sprinkle (the act of sprinkling or splashing water)

sprinkler (mechanical device that attaches to a garden hose for watering lawn or garden)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Distribute loosely

Example:

He scattered gun powder under the wagon

Synonyms:

disperse; dot; dust; scatter; sprinkle

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "sprinkle" is one way to...):

discharge (pour forth or release)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "sprinkle"):

spray (scatter in a mass or jet of droplets)

spray (be discharged in sprays of liquid)

plash; spatter; splash; splatter; splosh; swash (dash a liquid upon or against)

splash; splosh; sprinkle (cause (a liquid) to spatter about, especially with force)

bespangle (dot or sprinkle with sparkling or glittering objects)

aerosolise; aerosolize (disperse as an aerosol)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP

Derivation:

sprinkling (a small number (of something) dispersed haphazardly)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Rain gently

Example:

It has only sprinkled, but the roads are slick

Synonyms:

patter; pitter-patter; spatter; spit; sprinkle

Classified under:

Verbs of raining, snowing, thawing, thundering

Hypernyms (to "sprinkle" is one way to...):

rain; rain down (precipitate as rain)

Sentence frame:

It is ----ing

Derivation:

sprinkle; sprinkling (a light shower that falls in some locations and not others nearby)

Credits

 Context examples: 

An article intended to be rubbed, poured, sprinkled, or sprayed on or introduced into or otherwise applied to the human body for cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness or altering the appearance.

(Cosmetic, NCI Thesaurus/BRIDG)

New data from Chandra reveals 25 bright X-ray sources sprinkled throughout the Arp 299 concoction.

(Chandra Samples Galactic Goulash, NASA)

The meadows beyond what will be the garden, as well as what now is, sweeping round from the lane I stood in to the north-east, that is, to the principal road through the village, must be all laid together, of course; very pretty meadows they are, finely sprinkled with timber.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

His attack did not last long, however, for when we undid his collar, and sprinkled the water from one of the finger-glasses over his face, he gave a gasp or two and sat up.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Of the six score, fully half had seen service before, while a fair sprinkling were men who had followed the wars all their lives, and had a hand in those battles which had made the whole world ring with the fame and the wonder of the island infantry.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"Here, let me teach you how to sprinkle. Pressure is what's wanted. Sprinkle under pressure if you want to iron fast."

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Then they tore off her dainty clothing, and cut her beautiful body into pieces and sprinkled salt upon it.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

Jupiter rules your ninth house of travel and will be in an especially jolly mood, sprinkling unexpected fun and warmth everywhere you go.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Mrs. Henry Spiker was this lady's name; and her husband was there too: so cold a man, that his head, instead of being grey, seemed to be sprinkled with hoar-frost.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

He would then say, with a peculiar smile, more solemn than cheerful—And if I let a gust of wind or a sprinkling of rain turn me aside from these easy tasks, what preparation would such sloth be for the future I propose to myself?

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)