pestle
noun
- kind of laboratory equipment
verb
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L332496 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈpɛsəl/
noun
Etymology: From Middle English pestel, pestell, from Old French pestel, from Latin pistillum, from pīnsō (“pound, beat”). Doublet of pistil and pistillum.
- A club-shaped, round-headed stick used in a mortar to pound, crush, rub or grind things.
“She then sat down by the fire, and carefully separated the stone from the pulp, which she burnt; and her next task was to extract the kernel, which she did by means of a heavy pestle and the hearth. The kernels were next crushed together, and placed to simmer over the furnace.”
- A constable's or bailiff's staff; so called from its shape.
“[…]whether the chopping-knife or their pestles were the better weapons”
- The leg and leg bone of an animal, especially of a pig.
“a pestle of pork”
verb
Etymology: From Middle English pestel, pestell, from Old French pestel, from Latin pistillum, from pīnsō (“pound, beat”). Doublet of pistil and pistillum.
- To pound, crush, rub or grind, as in a mortar with a pestle.
“‘Next time, boy, that you use that mortar for garlic, I will personally knock out your brain, place it in the said mortar, pestle it to a fine paste and give it to Dick Purser for feeding the dogs.’”