PURL • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Purl

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noun

Purl n.

An embroidered and puckered border; a hem or fringe, often of gold or silver twist; also, a pleat or fold, as of a band. "A triumphant chariot made of carnation velvet, enriched withpurl and pearl."

An inversion of stitches in knitting, which gives to the work a ribbed or waved appearance.

Purl stitch. Same as Purl, n., 2.

Purl n.

A circle made by the notion of a fluid; an eddy; a ripple. "Whose stream an easy breath doth seem to blow, Which on the sparkling gravel runs in purles, As though the waves had been of silver curls."

A gentle murmur, as that produced by the running of a liquid among obstructions; as, the purl of a brook.

Malt liquor, medicated or spiced; formerly, ale or beer in which wormwood or other bitter herbs had been infused, and which was regarded as tonic; at present, hot beer mixed with gin, sugar, and spices. "Drank a glass of purl to recover appetite." "Drinking hot purl, and smoking pipes."

(Zool.) A tern. (Prov. Eng.)

verb

Purl v. t. To decorate with fringe or embroidery. "Nature's cradle more enchased and purled."

Purl v. i. (past & past part. purled; pres. part. purling)

To run swiftly round, as a small stream flowing among stones or other obstructions; to eddy; also, to make a murmuring sound, as water does in running over or through obstructions. "Swift o'er the rolling pebbles, down the hills, Louder and louder purl the falling rills."

To rise in circles, ripples, or undulations; to curl; to mantle. "thin winding breath which purled up to the sky."

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Etymology of 'Purl'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Purl" Quotes from Famous Books

... that purl across The gleaming pebbles and the moss, We love no less than classic streams— The Rhines and Arnos of ...

— Riley Love-Lyrics • James Whitcomb Riley

... omnibuses, roll swiftly by; watermen with dim dirty lanterns in their hands, and large brass plates upon their breasts, who have been shouting and rushing about for the last two hours, retire to their watering-houses, to solace themselves with the creature comforts of pipes and purl; the half-price pit and box frequenters of the theatres throng to the different houses of refreshment; and chops, kidneys, rabbits, oysters, stout, cigars, and 'goes' innumerable, are served up amidst a noise and confusion of smoking, running, ...

— Sketches by Boz - illustrative of everyday life and every-day people • Charles Dickens

... with pregnant streams the plants and flowers: Soon as he clears whate'er their passage stay'd, And marks the future current with his spade, Swift o'er the rolling pebbles, down the hills, Louder and louder purl the falling rills; Before him scattering, they prevent his pains, And shine in mazy wanderings ...

— The Iliad of Homer • Homer

... the officers come it over me; they're gentlemen, and it don't try a fellow," would Rake say in confidential moments over purl and a penn'orth of bird's-eye, his experience in the Argentine Republic having left him with strongly aristocratic prejudices; "but when it comes to a duffer like that, that knows no better than me, what ain't a bit better than me, ...

— Under Two Flags • Ouida [Louise de la Ramee]

... these reveal to the hardened earth-seeker the universe which the youthful mind has with it always. No fear and no favor; the open fields and the light upon the hills; morning, noon, night; stars, the bird-calls, the water's purl—these are the natural inheritance of the mind of the child. Men call it poetic, those who are hardened fanciful. In the days of their youth it was natural, but the receptiveness of youth has ...

— Jennie Gerhardt - A Novel • Theodore Dreiser

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