Word.ws English Dictionary

sprinkling

sprinkling is the present participle and gerund of sprinkle.

Noun

sprinkling (plural sprinklings)

  1. The action of the verb to sprinkle.
  2. A small thinly distributed amount, e.g. of some liquid, powder or other fine substance that is sprinkled on to something.
    • Among the devotees […] were persons who suffered from loathsome skin diseases, such as smallpox, abscesses, and the itch; and among them there was a fair sprinkling of debauchees, who had drunk themselves nearly blind and hoped to recover the use of their precious eyes by parading for a month in...1911, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, volume 9, page 299
    • It notes: "The Welsh Government's view is that genuine 'levelling up' cannot simply mean a sprinkling of new, ad hoc rail projects decided in Whitehall, it has to be part of a strategic approach to promoting growth in all parts of the UK."2020 December 2, Philip Haigh, “When will Wales's wish for rail improvements come true?”, in Rail, page 32
  3. A light shower of rain.
    Synonyms:
    flirt, skiff, sprinkle
  4. A scattering.

Meaning of sprinkle

Verb

sprinkle (third-person singular simple present sprinkles, present participle sprinkling, simple past and past participle sprinkled)

  1. (transitive) To cause (a substance) to fall in fine drops (for a liquid substance) or small pieces (for a solid substance).
    • The confectioner sprinkled icing sugar over the cakes.
  2. (transitive) To cover (an object) by sprinkling a substance on to it.
    • The confectioner sprinkled the cakes with icing sugar.
  3. (intransitive) To drip in fine drops, sometimes sporadically.
    • It sprinkled outside all day long.
  4. (intransitive) To rain very lightly outside.
    • It sprinkled very early in the morning.
  5. (transitive) To baptize by the application of a few drops, or a small quantity, of water; hence, to cleanse; to purify.
    • having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Hebrews 10:22

See all 10 meanings of sprinkle

Synonyms of sprinkling

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Forms of sprinkling

pluralsprinklings

Words formed from sprinkling

Phrases with sprinkling

Questions about sprinkling

What does sprinkling mean?
Sprinkling means the action of the verb to sprinkle.
What is sprinkling the present participle and gerund of?
Sprinkling is the present participle and gerund of sprinkle.
What part of speech is sprinkling?
Sprinkling is a noun.
What is the plural of sprinkling?
The plural of sprinkling is sprinklings.

Words near sprinkling in the dictionary

  1. sprinklering
  2. sprinklers
  3. sprinkles
  4. sprinklest
  5. sprinkleth
  6. sprinkling
  7. sprinkling can
  8. sprinkling cans
  9. sprinklingly
  10. sprinklings
  11. sprinkly

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: sprinkling (page history and authors); sprinkle (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “sprinkling.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sprinkling. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.