purl
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Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
purl¹
- /pɜːl/ UK
- [pʰəːɫ] UK
- /pɝl/ US
- [pʰɝɫ] US
Sounds like pearl · Rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)l
Where it comes from
Unknown; apparently related to Scots and dialect pirl (“twist, ripple, whirl, spin”), and possibly to Older Scots pyrl ("thrust or poke at"). Compare Venetan pirlo, an embellishment where the woven threads are twisted together. May be unrelated to purfle, though the meanings are similar.
noun purls
- A particular stitch in knitting in which the working yarn is pulled through an existing stitch from front to back.
- The edge of lace trimmed with loops.
- 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 with purl and pearl.
verb purls · purling · purled
- To decorate with fringe or embroidered edge Needlework purled with gold.
- To use or create a purl stitch or stitches. Knit one, purl two.
purl²
- /pɜːl/ UK
- [pʰəːɫ] UK
- /pɝl/ US
- [pʰɝɫ] US
Sounds like pearl · Rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)l
Where it comes from
from Middle English pirle (“whirligig”), Middle Italian pirla (“whipping top”).
noun purls
- a heavy or headlong fall; an upset.
verb purls · purling · purled
- To upset, to spin, capsize, fall heavily, fall headlong. The huntsman was purled from his horse.
purl³
- /pɜːl/ UK
- [pʰəːɫ] UK
- /pɝl/ US
- [pʰɝɫ] US
Sounds like pearl · Rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)l
Where it comes from
From Old Norse purla (“to babble”), possibly ultimately from an imitative Germanic base related to Dutch polder, Norwegian puldra (“to gush”) and pulla (“to bubble”), Old English polr (“marsh”).
verb purls · purling · purled
- To flow with a murmuring sound in swirls and eddies. 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
noun purls
- A circle made by the motion of a fluid; an eddy; a ripple. Caiſters ſiluer Lake, / […] / VVhoſe ſtreame an eaſie breath doth ſeeme to blovve; / VVhich on the ſparkling grauell runns in purles, / As though the vvaues had been of ſiluer curles.
- A gentle murmuring sound, such as that produced by the running of a liquid among obstructions. the purl of a brook
purl⁴
- /pɜːl/ UK
- [pʰəːɫ] UK
- /pɝl/ US
- [pʰɝɫ] US
Sounds like pearl · Rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)l
Where it comes from
Possibly from the pearl-like appearance caused by bubbles on the surface of the liquid.
noun
- Ale or beer spiced with wormwood or other bitter herbs, regarded as a tonic. A double mug of purle.
- Hot beer mixed with gin, sugar, and spices. Drank a glass of purl to recover appetite.
