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pestle

[pes-uhl, pes-tl] / ˈpɛs əl, ˈpɛs tl /






Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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Traditionally, pesto was made using a mortar and pestle, though a blender or food processor gets the job done just fine today.

From Salon Apr. 25, 2025

A few had tooth structures that acted like a mortar and pestle and were able to grind in addition to just cutting.

From Science Daily Oct. 5, 2023

In a perfect pesto world, that frozen sauce is homemade — a mix of tiny-leafed Genovese basil, Italian pine nuts and good olive oil that you’ve pounded by hand with a mortar and pestle.

From Seattle Times Jul. 30, 2023

The archaeologists say another possibility was the object was used as a pestle to grind ingredients for cosmetics or medicines, and its shape could have been thought to add perceived magical properties.

From BBC Feb. 20, 2023

Sisi made it well; she pounded the yam energetically, adding drops of water into the mortar, her cheeks contracting with the thump-thump-thump of the pestle.

From "Purple Hibiscus" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

She devised a system that hulled and cleaned corn kernels, and then used mechanical pestles or stamping mechanisms to process the kernels into meal that could be used to bake bread and make other food.

From The Wall Street Journal Apr. 9, 2026

The spice remains indicate that the stone mortars, pestles and grinding slabs found there were likely used for food preparation.

From Scientific American Jul. 21, 2023

Originally done simply with mortars and pestles, this task evolved along with the rise in agricultural production to include the use of larger stone tools.

From Textbooks Apr. 19, 2023

Essential kitchen tools: Try these mortars and pestles or knives like Grandma’s.

From New York Times Jan. 28, 2023

The women who were older and more experienced not only clapped several times before they caught their pestles but also made elaborate “thank you” gestures, all in harmony with the songs they sang.

From "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier" by Ishmael Beah

It will be such a pestling device, sir Amorous; it will pound all your enemy's practices to powder, and blow him up with his own mine, his own train.

From Epicoene: Or, the Silent Woman by Jonson, Ben




Vocabulary lists containing pestle


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