pickles

Noun

pickle (countable and uncountable, plural pickles)

1. (Australia, Canada, US) A cucumber preserved in a solution, usually a brine or a vinegar syrup.
   • A pickle goes well with a hamburger.
2. (in plural, often) Any vegetable preserved in vinegar and consumed as relish.
3. (UK) A sweet, vinegary pickled chutney popular in Britain.
4. The brine used for preserving food.
   • This tub is filled with the pickle that we will put the small cucumbers into.
5. (informal) A difficult situation; peril.
   • The climber found himself in a pickle when one of the rocks broke off.

   Synonyms:

   ass in a sling, bind, bucket of syrup, calvary, cauldron, cross, cross to bear, difficulty, dilemma, dire straits

6. (endearing) A mildly mischievous loved one.
   • by degrees my little pickle (who, as I told you at the beginning of the story, was the most troublesome child I ever came across) turned into a very well-behaved young gentleman.1867, Polly Stubbs, Nursery times; or, Stories about the little ones, by an old nurse, page 143

See all 21 meanings of pickle