1.  pickle(n = noun.food) - vegetables (especially cucumbers) preserved in brine or vinegar;
is a kind of relish
has particulars: gherkin, caper, dill pickle, sweet pickle
Derived form verb pickle₁

2.  pickle(n = noun.state) fix, hole, jam, kettle of fish, mess, muddle - informal terms for a difficult situation; "he got into a terrible fix"; "he made a muddle of his marriage"
is a kind of difficulty
has particulars: dog's breakfast, dog's dinner

   pickle(v = verb.change) - preserve in a pickling liquid;
is one way to keep, preserve
Derived form noun pickle₁
Sample sentences: The chefs pickle the vegetables

   See Picle. [1913 Webster]

1.  A solution of salt and water, in which fish, meat, etc., may be preserved or corned; brine. [1913 Webster]

2.  Any article of food which has been preserved in brine or in vinegar. [1913 Webster]

3.  A bath of dilute sulphuric or nitric acid, etc., to remove burnt sand, scale rust, etc., from the surface of castings, or other articles of metal, or to brighten them or improve their color. [1913 Webster]

4.  A troublesome child; as, a little pickle. [1913 Webster]

1.  To preserve or season in pickle; to treat with some kind of pickle; as, to pickle herrings or cucumbers. [1913 Webster]

2.  To give an antique appearance to; -- said of copies or imitations of paintings by the old masters. [1913 Webster]

pickle, n. & v.
--n.
1 a (often in pl.) food, esp. vegetables, preserved in brine, vinegar, mustard, etc. and used as a relish. b the brine, vinegar, etc. in which food is preserved.
2 colloq. a plight (a fine pickle we are in!).
3 Brit. colloq. a mischievous child.
4 an acid solution for cleaning metal etc.
--v.tr.
1 preserve in pickle.
2 treat with pickle.
3 (as pickled adj.) sl. drunk.

Etymology:
ME pekille, pykyl, f. MDu., MLG pekel, of unkn. orig.

N  state, condition, category, estate, lot, ease, trim, mood, pickle, plight, temper, aspect, dilemma, pass, predicament, constitution, habitude, diathesis, frame, fabric, stamp, set, fit, mold, mould, mode, modality, schesis, form, tone, tenor, turn, trim, guise, fashion, light, complexion, style, character, conditional, modal, formal, structural, organic, conditionally, as the matter stands, as things are, such being the case.

VB  preserve, maintain, keep, sustain, support, hold, keep up, keep alive, refrigerate, keep on ice, not willingly let die, bank up, nurse, save, rescue, be safe, make safe, take care of, guard, stare super antiquas vias, hold one's own, hold one's ground, stand one's ground, embalm, cure, salt, pickle, season, kyanize, bottle, pot, tin, can, sterilize, pasteurize, radiate, dry, lyophilize, freeze- dry, concentrate, evaporate, freeze, quick-freeze, deep-freeze, husband.

N  difficulty, hardness, impracticability, tough work, hard work, uphill work, hard task, Herculean task, Augean task, task of Sisyphus, Sisyphean labor, tough job, teaser, rasper, dead lift, dilemma, embarrassment, deadlock, perplexity, intricacy, entanglement, complexity, cross fire, awkwardness, delicacy, ticklish card to play, knot, Gordian knot, dignus vindice nodus, net, meshes, maze, coil, crooked path, involvement, nice point, delicate point, subtle point, knotty point, vexed question, vexata quaestio, poser, puzzle, paradox, hard nut to crack, nut to crack, bone to pick, crux, pons asinorum, where the shoe pinches, nonplus, quandary, strait, pass, pinch, pretty pass, stress, brunt, critical situation, crisis, trial, rub, emergency, exigency, scramble, scrape, hobble, slough, quagmire, hot water, hornet's nest, sea of troubles, peck of troubles, pretty kettle of fish, pickle, stew, imbroglio, mess, ado, false position, set fast, stand, standstill, deadlock, dead set, fix, horns of a dilemma, cul de sac, hitch, stumbling block, crab, curmudgeon, difficult, not easy, hard, tough, troublesome, toilsome, irksome, operose, laborious, onerous, arduous, Herculean, formidable, sooner said than done, more easily said than done, easier said than done, difficult to deal with, hard to deal with, ill-conditioned, crabbed, crabby, not to be handled with kid gloves, not made with rose water, awkward, unwieldy, unmanageable, intractable, stubborn, perverse, refractory, plaguy, trying, thorny, rugged, knotted, knotty, invious, pathless, trackless, labyrinthine, intricate, complicated, impracticable, not feasible, desperate, embarrassing, perplexing, delicate, ticklish, critical, beset with difficulties, full of difficulties, surrounded by difficulties, entangled by difficulties, encompassed with difficulties, under a difficulty, in a box, in difficulty, in hot water, in the suds, in a cleft stick, in a fix, in the wrong box, in a scrape, in deep water, in a fine pickle, in extremis, between two stools, between Scylla and Charybdis, surrounded by shoals, surrounded by breakers, surrounded by quicksands, at cross purposes, not out of the wood, reduced to straits, hard pressed, sorely pressed, run hard, pinched, put to it, straitened, hard up, hard put to it, hard set, put to one's shifts, puzzled, at a loss, at the end of one's tether, at the end of one's rope, at one's wit's end, at a nonplus, at a standstill, graveled, nonplused, nonplussed, stranded, aground, stuck fast, set fast, up a tree, at bay, aux abois, driven into a corner, driven from pillar to post, driven to extremity, driven to one's wit's end, driven to the wall, au bout de son Latin, out of one's depth, thrown out, accomplished with difficulty, hard-fought, hard-earned, with difficulty, with much ado, barely, hardly, uphill, against the stream, against the grain, d rebours, invita Minerva, in the teeth of, at a pinch, upon a pinch, at long odds, against long odds, ay there's the rub, hic labor hoc opus, things are come to a pretty pass, ab inconvenienti, ad astra per aspera, acun chemin de fleurs ne conduit a la gloire.

VB  be watery, reek, add water, water, wet, moisten, dilute, dip, immerse, merge, immerge, submerge, plunge, souse, duck, drown, soak, steep, macerate, pickle, wash, sprinkle, lave, bathe, affuse, splash, swash, douse, drench, dabble, slop, slobber, irrigate, inundate, deluge, syringe, inject, gargle.

VB  be pungent, bite the tongue, render pungent, season, spice, salt, pepper, pickle, brine, devil, smoke, chew, take snuff.

N  condiment, seasoning, sauce, spice, relish, appetizer, salt, mustard, grey poupon mustard, pepper, black pepper, white pepper, peppercorn, curry, sauce piquante, caviare, onion, garlic, pickle, achar, allspice, bell pepper, Jamaica pepper, green pepper, chutney, cubeb, pimento, capsicum, red pepper, chili peppers, cayenne, nutmeg, mace, cinnamon, oregano, cloves, fennel, pot herbs, parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, bay leaves, marjoram, frankincense, balm, myrrh, paprika, saffron, ginger, turmeric.

bread and butter pickle, dill pickle, pickle barrel, pickle relish, sweet pickle