pestle

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

noun machine consisting of a heavy bar that moves vertically for pounding or crushing ores
noun a heavy tool of stone or iron (usually with a flat base and a handle) that is used to grind and mix material (as grain or drugs or pigments) against a slab of stone
noun a club-shaped hand tool for grinding and mixing substances in a mortar

From Middle English pestel, pestell, from Old French pestel, from Latin pistillum, from pīnsō (“pound, beat”). Doublet of pistil and pistillum.

“Bother the pestle!” broke from him suddenly. — The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
[245] See Beaumont and Fletcher, Knight of the Burning Pestle, Act I. Sc. — The Journal of Sir Walter Scott: From the Original Manuscript at Abbotsford, Walter Scott
And look at the pestle and mortar, and rust I declare in the patty pans! — Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor, R. D. (Richard Doddridge) Blackmore

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