verb / noun

sprinkle

SPRING-kul/ˈsprɪŋkl/

A light scattering or falling of small drops or particles.

The cook sprinkles fine salt over the vegetables.

South Asian cook scatters fine salt particles over vegetables from fingertips.

Etymology

The base is the causative counterpart of spring, with an ending marking repeated or small actions. Together they describe scattering something in many little drops or particles.

In context

Internet Shaquille2:09

… a pinch this small is impossible to sprinkle evenly over a big mass of ingredients. Some of it is gonna end up bare and unsalted.

What Cooking is Like for Someone Who Doesn't Cook

More examples

Sprinkle a little salt over the sliced tomatoes.
It begins to sprinkle as we walk home.
He sprinkles grass seed over the bare patch.

Forms

sprinkle · sprinkles · sprinkled · sprinkling

sprinkler noun — A device that sprays water in scattered drops.

Similar words

scatter: Spreads things apart without implying small particles or light amounts.
drizzle: Describes fine rain or pouring liquid in a thin stream.
dust: Applies a fine powder lightly across a surface.