sprinkle.
To cause (a substance) to fall in fine drops (for a liquid substance) or small pieces (for a solid substance).
Meaning & usage
To cause (a substance) to fall in fine drops (for a liquid substance) or small pieces (for a solid substance).
The confectioner sprinkled icing sugar over the cakes.
To cover (an object) by sprinkling a substance on to it.
The confectioner sprinkled the cakes with icing sugar.
To drip in fine drops, sometimes sporadically.
It sprinkled outside all day long.
To rain very lightly outside.
It sprinkled very early in the morning.
To baptize by the application of a few drops, or a small quantity, of water; hence, to cleanse; to purify.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English sprenkelen, sprynklen, from Middle Dutch sprenkelen, equivalent to sprink + -le (frequentative suffix). Cognate with Dutch sprenkelen (“to sprinkle”), German Low German sprenkeln (“to sprinkle; dapple”), German sprenkeln (“to sprinkle”).
A light covering with a sprinkled substance.
He decorated the Christmas card with a sprinkle of glitter.
A light rain shower.
An aspersorium or utensil for sprinkling.
A small hard piece of sugar and starch, or chocolate, used to decorate cakes etc.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English sprenkelen, sprynklen, from Middle Dutch sprenkelen, equivalent to sprink + -le (frequentative suffix). Cognate with Dutch sprenkelen (“to sprinkle”), German Low German sprenkeln (“to sprinkle; dapple”), German sprenkeln (“to sprinkle”).
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.