What does Addle mean?

Definitions for Addle
ˈæd lad·dle

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word Addle.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. addle, muddle, puddleverb

    mix up or confuse

    "He muddled the issues"

  2. addleverb

    become rotten

    "addled eggs"

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. ADDLEadjective

    Originally applied to eggs, and signifying such as produce nothing, but grow rotten under the hen; thence transferred to brains that produce nothing.

    Etymology: from adel , a disease, Sax. according to Stephen Skinner and Franciscus Junius; perhaps from ydel , idle, barren, unfruitful.

    There’s one with truncheon, like a ladle,
    That carries eggs too fresh or addle;
    And still at random, as he goes,
    Among the rabble rout bestows. Hudibras, p. ii. cant. ii.

    After much solitariness, fasting, or long sickness, their brains were addle, and their bellies as empty of meat as their heads of wit. Robert Burton, on Melancholy.

    Thus far the poet; but his brains grow addle:
    And all the rest is purely from this noddle. John Dryden, Don Seb.

  2. To Addleverb

    To make addle; to corrupt; to make barren.

    Etymology: from addle, adj.

    This is also evidenced in eggs, whereof the sound ones sink, and such as are addled swim; as do also those that are termed hypenemiæ, or wind-eggs. Thomas Browne, Vulgar Errours, b. iv.

ChatGPT

  1. addle

    Addle typically refers to confusing, perplexing, or making someone unable to think clearly. It's also used to describe something, particularly an egg, that has gone bad or rotten.

  2. addle

    Addle generally refers to the state of causing confusion or puzzlement, to make someone unable to think clearly or to become mixed up. It can also mean causing a state of decay or rot, especially referring to an egg. It is commonly used as an adjective or verb in English language.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Addlenoun

    liquid filth; mire

  2. Addlenoun

    lees; dregs

  3. Addleadjective

    having lost the power of development, and become rotten, as eggs; putrid. Hence: Unfruitful or confused, as brains; muddled

  4. Addle

    to make addle; to grow addle; to muddle; as, he addled his brain

  5. Addle

    to earn by labor

  6. Addle

    to thrive or grow; to ripen

  7. Etymology: [OE. adlen, adilen, to gain, acquire; prob. fr. Icel. lask to acquire property, akin to oal property. Cf. Allodial.]

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Addle

    ad′dl, Addled, ad′dld, adj. diseased: putrid: barren, empty.—adjs. Ad′dle-head′ed, Ad′dle-pat′ed, having a head or pate with addled brains.—n. Ad′dlement. [M.E. adele—A.S. adela, mud; cf. Scot, eddle, liquid manure.]

Dictionary of Nautical Terms

  1. addle

    An old term for the putrid water in casks.

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of Addle in Chaldean Numerology is: 8

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of Addle in Pythagorean Numerology is: 8

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Translations for Addle

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

  • развалям, вмирисвам, развалям се, вмирисвам сеBulgarian
  • enturbiar, confundir, podridoSpanish
  • pourriFrench
  • смести, помести, smesti, pomesti, zbuniti, pokvaren, збунити, покваренSerbo-Croatian

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"Addle." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/Addle>.

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