nurdle

English

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Nurdle (bead)

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “See Language Log^[1]”)

nurdle (third-person singular simple present nurdles, present participle nurdling, simple past and past participle nurdled)

(cricket) To score runs by gently nudging the ball into vacant areas of the field.^[2]
(conversation) To gently waffle or muse on a subject which one clearly knows little about.

nurdle (plural nurdles)

(cricket) Such a shot.
A cylindrical pre-production plastic pellet used in manufacturing and packaging.
- 2015 March 27, Amanda Schupak, “Plastic pellets found in puffin tummies”, in CBS News:
  Puffins on the Isle of May are nibbling on nurdles, the little nuggets that serve as raw materials for plastics manufacturing.
- 2022 February 9, Karen McVeigh, “‘Oil spills of our time’: experts sound alarm about plastic lost in cargo ship disasters”, in The Guardian‎, Guardian Media Group, retrieved 2022-02-11, Seascape: the state of our oceans:
  Researchers analysed samples of nurdles and burnt lumps of plastic from four Sri Lankan beaches for heavy metals and various chemicals, including benzotriazole UV-stabilisers, which are used to prevent discoloration in plastics, bisphenols and polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).
A blob of toothpaste shaped like a wave, often depicted on toothpaste packaging.^[3]^[4]
- 2010 July 29, Jonathan Stempel, “Colgate, Glaxo sue over toothpaste "nurdle"”, in Reuters:
  Each company is seeking the right to depict, and to stop the other from depicting, a “nurdle,” a wave-shaped toothpaste blob that sits on a toothbrush head.