coddle
/ˈkɒd(ə)l
/verb [with object]
1Treat (someone) in an indulgent or overprotective way: I was coddled and cosseted...
- I watched in amazement as the players were coddled and treated like gods.
- Being the baby of the family he was coddled and treated like glass, as if he would break.
- I want to baby you, and coddle you, and spoil you for the rest of my life.
Synonyms
pamper, cosset, mollycoddle, wait on someone hand and foot, cater to someone's every whim;
spoil, indulge, overindulge, humour, pander to;
spoon-feed, feather-bed, wrap in cotton wool, overparent;
pet, baby, mother, nanny
archaic cocker
2Cook (an egg) in water below boiling point: you may have your eggs scrambled, poached, coddled, or boiled...
- If you don't know how to coddle an egg, here's how: Poke a hole in the bottom with a pin.
- Eggs can be cooked easily and quickly in any number of pleasant ways - poached, fried, scrambled, boiled, coddled, baked and even deep-fried.
Derivatives
coddler
- We should not allow corporate coddlers like these men to repackage themselves as born-again crusaders for reform.
- If we do not, we allow our opponents to say we are coddlers of evil, allowing an oppressor to rule unchecked.
- He painted a picture of a painful childhood with parents who were certainly not coddlers.
Origin
Late 16th century (in the sense 'boil (fruit) gently'): origin uncertain; sense 1 is probably a dialect variant of obsolete caudle 'administer invalids' gruel', based on Latin caldum 'hot drink', from calidus 'warm'.