# pickle

/ˈpɪkəɫ/ (US) · /pˈɪkəl/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/pickle
Updated: 2026-08-08

## Senses

### 1. preserved vegetable

noun · CEFR B1

a vegetable, especially a cucumber, that has been kept in vinegar or salt water to give it a strong, sour taste.

For teachers: 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.

### 2. difficult situation

noun · CEFR B2 · Informal

a difficult or messy situation that is hard to get out of.

For teachers: 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.

### 4. to serialize data

verb · CEFR C1 · Technical

to turn a complex piece of computer data into a format that can be saved or sent easily.

For teachers: 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.

## Examples

- I always have a crunchy pickle with my sandwich.
- We found ourselves in a real pickle when the car broke down miles from the nearest town.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.