nurdle

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

• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)dəl

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

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

nurdle (plural nurdles)

1. (cricket) Such a shot.
2. A cylindrical shaped 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).

3. 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.

• Rundle, lurden, nurled, rundel, rundle