addle

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Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈæ.dəl/

Verb

addle (addles, present participle addling; past and past participle addled)

1. (provincial, Northern England) To earn, earn by labor; earn money or one's living.
2. (provincial, Northern England) To thrive or grow; to ripen.

   • Kill ivy, else tree will addle no more.

Adjective

addle

1. Having lost the power of development, and become rotten; putrid.

   addle eggs

2. (by extension) Unfruitful or confused; muddled.

   addle brains

Noun

addle (plural addles)

1. (obsolete) Liquid filth; mire.
2. (provincial) Lees; dregs.

Verb

addle (addles, present participle addling; past and past participle addled)

1. To make addle; to grow addle; to muddle

   • Their eggs were addled.

   • 2000, Quentin Skinner, “The Adviser to Princes”, in Nigel Warburton; Jon Pike; Derek Matravers, Reading Political Philosophy: Machiavelli to Mill, Abingdon, Oxon.: Routledge in association with The Open University, 978-0-415-21196-3, page 30:

     [Niccolò] Machiavelli had received an early lesson in the value of addling men's brains. […] [A] talent for addling men's brains is part of the armoury of any successful prince […] .

2. To cause fertilised eggs to lose viability, by killing the developing embryo within through shaking, piercing, freezing or oiling, without breaking the shell.

Translations

• Spanish: confundir, enturbiar

Noun

addle (plural addles)

1. A foolish or dull-witted fellow.

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