addle
Use Addle in a sentence
l verb (used with object), verb (used without object)
1.
to make or become confused.
2.
to make or become rotten, as eggs.
adjective
3.
mentally confused; muddled.
4.
rotten: addle eggs.
Origin:
before 1000; Middle English adel rotten, Old English adela liquid, filth; cognate with Middle Low German adele liquid manure
before 1000; Middle English adel rotten, Old English adela liquid, filth; cognate with Middle Low German adele liquid manure
Related forms
un·ad·dled, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To addle
00:10
Addle
is always a great word to know.
So is quincunx. Does it mean:
| an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle. |
| a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
addle1 (ˈædəl) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —vb | |
| 1. | to make or become confused or muddled |
| 2. | to make or become rotten |
| —adj | |
| 3. | (in combination) indicating a confused or muddled state: addle-brained; addle-pated |
| [C18: (vb), back formation from addled, from c13 addle rotten, from Old English adela filth; related to dialect German Addel liquid manure] | |
| addle2 (ˈædəl) | |
| —vb | |
| dialect (Northern English) to earn (money or one's living) | |
| [C13: addlen, from Old Norse öthlask to gain possession of property, from ōthal property] | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
addle
1712, from addle (n.) "urine, liquid filth," from O.E. adela "mud, mire, liquid manure" (cognate with O.Swed. adel "urine," M.L.G. adel, Du. aal "puddle"). Used in noun phrase addle egg (mid-13c.) "egg that does not hatch, rotten egg," lit. "urine egg," a loan-transl. of L. ovum urinum, which is itself
an erroneous loan-transl. of Gk. ourion oon "putrid egg," lit. "wind egg," from ourios "of the wind" (confused by Roman writers with ourios "of urine," from ouron "urine"). Because of this usage, the noun in Eng. was taken as an adj. from c.1600, meaning "putrid," and thence given a fig. extension to "empty, vain, idle," also "confused, muddled, unsound" (1706). The verb followed.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Example sentences
Any idea of attempting to follow this story might easily result in one becoming as addle-brained as are some of the characters.
Thy head is as full of quarrels as an egg is full of meat, and yet thy head hath been beaten as addle as an egg for quarrelling.
Learn more about the ecology of geese and their behavior, how to locate and identify goose nesting areas and how to addle eggs.
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