powder
See also: Powder
English
Alternative forms
- powdre (obsolete)
Etymology
From Middle English poudre, pouder, pouldre, borrowed from Old French poudre, poldre, puldre, from Latin pulverem, accusative singular of Latin pulvis (“dust, powder”). Compare pollen (“fine flour”), polverine, pulverize.
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈpaʊ.də(ɹ)/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -aʊdə(ɹ)
Noun
powder (countable and uncountable, plural powders)
- The fine particles which are the result of reducing a dry substance by pounding, grinding, or triturating, or the result of decay; dust.
- c. 1588–1593, William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act V, scene ii], page 50, column 2:
- Let me goe grin'd their Bones to powder ſmall, […]
- 2017 February 3, Deborah Orr, “Veg crisis, what veg crisis? If we can’t have courgettes, then let us eat kale”, in The Guardian:
- Let them stop fretting about vegetables denied by the weather and eat chilli powder. Just explain to them that they really shouldn’t think about spiralising it, because that doesn’t work.
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- (cosmetics) A mixture of fine dry, sweet-smelling particles applied to the face or other body parts, to reduce shine or to alleviate chaffing.
- 1912, Willa Cather, The Bohemian Girl:
- She was redolent of violet sachet powder, and had warm, soft, white hands, but she danced divinely, moving as smoothly as the tide coming in.
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- An explosive mixture used in gunnery, blasting, etc.; gunpowder.
- c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act IV, scene ii], page 67, column 2:
- Tut, tut, good enough to toſſe: foode for Powder, foode for Powder: they'll fill a Pit, as well as better: tuſh man, mortall men, mortall men.
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- (informal) Ellipsis of powder snow.; light, dry, fluffy snow.
- Ellipsis of powder blue.; the colour powder blue.
Derived terms
Terms derived from powder (noun)
- Atlas powder
- baby powder
- baking powder
- black powder
- Bolivian marching powder
- brown powder
- cocoa powder
- curry powder
- denture powder
- face powder
- fingerprint powder
- flea powder
- gunpowder, gun powder
- itching powder
- marching powder
- nose powder
- party powder
- Peruvian marching powder
- powder blue
- powder burn
- powder down
- powder-down feather
- powder-down patch
- powder horn, powderhorn
- powder hose
- powder hoy
- powder magazine
- powder mill
- powder mine
- powder monkey
- powder post
- powder puff
- Powder River
- powder room
- powder snow
- smokeless powder
- take a powder
- talcum powder
- washing powder
Descendants
- Tok Pisin: paura
- → Rotokas: paora
- → Hindi: पाउडार (pāuḍār)
- → Maori: paura
- → Swahili: poda
- → Urdu: پاؤڈر (pāuḍār)
Translations
fine particles of any dry substance
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cosmetic product
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gunpowder — see gunpowder
type of snow — see powder snow
Verb
powder (third-person singular simple present powders, present participle powdering, simple past and past participle powdered)
- (transitive) To reduce to fine particles; to pound, grind, or rub into a powder.
- 25 October 2016, Bettina Elias Siegel writing in New York Times, Should the Food Industry Sneak Vegetables Into Food?
- In desperation, they dried fruits and vegetables in an old food dehydrator they had, then used their coffee grinder to powder the produce...
- 25 October 2016, Bettina Elias Siegel writing in New York Times, Should the Food Industry Sneak Vegetables Into Food?
- (transitive) To sprinkle with powder, or as if with powder.
- to powder one's hair
- 23 March 2016, Seth Augenstein in Laboratory Equipment, FDA Proposes Ban on Powdered Surgical Gloves, Decades after Documenting Health Dangers
- Gloves were powdered for more than a century to allow doctors and surgeons to slip them on more easily.
- 1667, John Milton, “(please specify the book number)”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554:
- A circling zone thou seest / Powdered with stars.
- (intransitive) To use powder on the hair or skin.
- 1778-1787, Frances Burney, The Diary and Letters of Madame D'Arblay
- If she is grave, and reads steadily on, she dismisses me, whether I am dressed or not; but at all times she never forgets to send me away while she is powdering, with a consideration not to spoil my clothes
- 1778-1787, Frances Burney, The Diary and Letters of Madame D'Arblay
- (intransitive) To turn into powder; to become powdery.
- 1934, Edward Knight, The Clinical Journal Volume 63
- Ample evidence is brought forward to show that the higher incidence of chronic interstitial nephritis in Queensland is due to lead paint on the verandahs and railings of the houses, which powders easily during the long Australian summer.
- 1934, Edward Knight, The Clinical Journal Volume 63
- (obsolete, transitive) To sprinkle with salt; to corn, as meat.
- (intransitive, slang) To depart suddenly; to "take a powder".
- 1980, Stephen King, The Wedding Gig
- Miss Gibson appeared in the empty hall, her eyes wide and shocked. The little man who had started all the trouble with his singing telegram had powdered.
- 1980, Stephen King, The Wedding Gig
Synonyms
- (to reduce to fine particles): pound, grind, comminute, pulverize, triturate
Translations
to reduce to fine particles
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to sprinkle with powder
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to use powder on the hair or skin
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to be reduced to powder
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to sprinkle with salt
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See also
powder on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Anagrams
- powdre, powred, prowed
Middle English
Etymology 1
From Old French poudre.
Noun
powder
- Alternative form of poudre
Etymology 2
From Old French poudrer.
Verb
powder
- Alternative form of poudren