pickled
/'pikld/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Adjective: 1. (Food Preservation) Describing food that has been preserved by being soaked and stored in a brine or vinegar solution, often with spices. 2. (Informal/Slang) Intoxicated; very drunk.
Usage
The primary use of 'pickled' is to describe preserved foods. The informal meaning is less common and typically used in casual conversation. * As an adjective, it is used before a noun (e.g., pickled cucumbers) or after a linking verb like 'be' (e.g., The herring is pickled). * The slang usage follows the same structure (e.g., He was completely pickled).
Examples
- Adjective (Food):
- I love having pickled ginger with my sushi.
- She opened a jar of pickled onions for the salad.
- These vegetables are pickled in a mixture of vinegar, salt, and dill.
- Adjective (Slang):
- After three strong cocktails, he was absolutely pickled.
- They got a bit pickled at the office party last night.
Advanced Usage
- "Pickled" as a state: Can be used metaphorically to suggest something is preserved in a state, often humorously or critically.
- His ideas seem pickled in the attitudes of the last century.
- In culinary contexts, it specifies a preparation method distinct from other preservations like canning or fermenting (though fermentation can be part of the pickling process).
Variants and Related Words
- Pickle (noun): 1. A pickled food, especially a cucumber. 2. The brine or vinegar solution used for pickling. 3. (Informal) A difficult situation.
- Pickle (verb): To preserve food in a pickling liquid.
- Pickling (noun/gerund): The process of preserving food by anaerobic fermentation in brine or immersion in vinegar.
Synonyms
- For Food: Preserved, brined, marinated (note: marinated typically implies shorter-term soaking for flavor, not long-term preservation).
- For Slang: Intoxicated, drunk, inebriated, soused, plastered.
Related Idioms
- In a pickle: (Idiom, from the noun form) To be in a difficult or troublesome situation.
- Missing my passport the day before the flight really put me in a pickle.
- Pickled herring: A common type of pickled food, often used as a specific example.
Adjective
- (used of foods) preserved in a pickling liquid