powdered

1. 1
   adjective

   Reduced to a fine, dry powder by grinding, crushing, or drying.

   The recipe calls for two teaspoons of powdered ginger.

   Laboratories often store reagents in powdered form for stability.

   Similarground, dried

   Oppositefresh, whole

2. 2
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of powder.

   The baker powdered the pastries with cinnamon and sugar.

   She had powdered her face before stepping onto the stage.

   Note

   The verb behind it works with or without an object. She powdered her face and the cook powdered the spice are transitive, while she powdered before going on is intransitive. A slang intransitive use means leaving suddenly, as in taking a powder, so he powdered can mean he vanished. Placed before a noun, the participle shades into the adjective.

3. 3
   adjective

   Covered or dusted with powder, especially cosmetic makeup on the face.

   The judges entered the courtroom in their powdered wigs.

   Her freshly powdered nose looked matte in the portrait.

   Note

   Here the powder sits on the surface instead of making up the thing itself: powdered ladies, a powdered wig. That is the line between this and the "ground to powder" sense. Powdered milk is powder through and through, while a powdered face only wears it. Coverage comes in degrees, so this is the reading that comfortably takes more powdered and most powdered.

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