Definitions
01preserved vegetable
B1 · Intermediate Countable noun Cooking
n. a vegetable, especially a cucumber, that has been kept in vinegar or salt water to give it a strong, sour taste.
n. a vegetable, typically a cucumber, preserved in brine or vinegar. In North American English, the term usually refers specifically to a pickled cucumber.
“He added a crunchy pickle to his ham sandwich for extra flavour.”
“The deli offers a variety of pickles, ranging from sweet bread-and-butter slices to spicy dill spears.”
Synonyms
02difficult situation
B2 · Upper Intermediate Countable noun Informal
n. a difficult or messy situation that is hard to get out of.
n. an informal figurative term for a predicament or a troublesome situation.
“I'm in a bit of a pickle because I promised to be in two places at once.”
“The sudden cancellation of the primary contractor left the project manager in a real pickle regarding the autumn deadline.”
Synonyms
Antonyms
03to serialize data
C1 · Advanced Computing Technical
v. to turn a complex piece of computer data into a format that can be saved or sent easily.
v. to serialize a Python object into a byte stream for storage or transmission. This is a technical term specific to the Python programming language.
“You can pickle the data to save your progress in the program.”
“The script will pickle the trained model and save it to the disk so it can be reloaded later without retraining.”
Synonyms
Antonyms
Usage
Commonly used in the idiomatic phrase 'in a pickle' to describe a problem.
Etymology
From Middle English pikel (“spicy sauce served with meat or fish”), borrowed from Middle Dutch, Middle Low German pekel (“brine”). Cognate with Scots pikkill (“salt liquor, brine”), Saterland Frisian Piekele (“pickle, brine”), Dutch pekel (“pickle, brine”), Low German pekel, peckel, pickel, bickel (“pickle, brine”), German Pökel (“pickle, brine”), Icelandic pækill (“brine”).
Perhaps from Scottish pickle, apparently from pick + -le (diminutive suffix). Compare Scots pickil.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Word family
NOUN
ADJECTIVE
Related words
Idioms
01. rod in pickle
Domain
- Exam level
- CambridgeCambridgeCambridge English QualificationsThe exam suite from Cambridge University Press & Assessment, from A1 Movers up to C2 Proficiency. The benchmark names double as CEFR labels.B1 PreliminaryIELTSIELTSInternational English Language Testing SystemThe 0–9 band test co-owned by the British Council, IDP, and Cambridge. Used for university entry, work, and migration.4.0–5.0TOEFL iBTTOEFL iBTTest of English as a Foreign Language, Internet-Based TestETS's academic English test, the standard route for US university admissions. Scored 0–120, with a 1–6 scale since 2026.1–6 scale: 3.0–3.544–71TOEICTOEICTest of English for International CommunicationETS's workplace English test, big in Japan and Korea. Listening & Reading scores 10–990 and tops out at C1.550–784
- Frequency
- Frequent
- Level
- B1 · Intermediate
- Updated
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QR code
englishreference.com/q/pickle
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