purple

noun purples

1. countable, uncountable A colour between red and blue; violet, though often closer to magenta. Arraying with reflected Purple and Gold / The Clouds that on his Weſtern Throne attend.

   Similar: blue-red

2. countable, uncountable Any non-spectral colour on the line of purples on a colour chromaticity diagram or a colour wheel between violet and red.
3. countable, uncountable Cloth, or a garment, dyed a purple colour; especially, a purple robe, worn as an emblem of rank or authority; specifically, the purple robe or mantle worn by Ancient Roman emperors as the emblem of imperial dignity. to put on the imperial purple
4. broadly, countable, uncountable Imperial power. 1776-1788, Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire He was born in the purple.
5. countable, uncountable Any of various species of mollusks from which Tyrian purple dye was obtained, especially the common dog whelk.
6. countable, uncountable The purple haze cultivar of cannabis in the kush family, either pure or mixed with others, or by extension any variety of smoked marijuana. "Sure, some purple Owlsley."
7. countable, uncountable Purpura.
8. countable, uncountable Earcockle, a disease of wheat.
9. countable, uncountable Any of the species of large butterflies, usually marked with purple or blue, of the genus Basilarchia (formerly Limenitis). the banded purple
10. countable, uncountable A cardinalate.
11. US, abbreviation, countable, ellipsis, slang, uncountable Ellipsis of purple drank Fishtailing out the parking lot leaving Magic / Sipping on the purple and the yellow, drinking magic
12. UK, countable, slang, uncountable Synonym of snakebite and black.

    Similar: snakebite and black

13. countable, uncountable A purple dye or pigment.
14. countable, uncountable A pen, pencil, crayon, etc., made of purple pigment.
15. countable, uncountable Something, or a part of a thing, which is purple.

adjective purpler · more purple · purplest · most purple

1. Of a purple hue. So this was my future home, I thought![…]Backed by towering hills, the but faintly discernible purple line of the French boundary off to the southwest, a sky of palest Gobelin flecked with fat, fleecy little clouds, it in truth looked a dear little city; the city of one's dreams.

   Similar: purpureal

2. US Not predominantly red or blue, but having a mixture of Democrat and Republican support. purple state
3. Belgium, Netherlands Mixed between social democrats and liberals.
4. Imperial; regal. Grovel on the earth: aye, hide / In the dust thy purple pride!
5. Blood-red; bloody. O may ſuch purple teares be alway ſhed
6. Of language, extravagantly ornate, like purple prose. Near-synonyms: flowery, overwrought

   Similar: flowery, overwrought

7. Of a sector, lap, etc., completed in the fastest time so far in a given session.

Opposite: nonpurple

verb purples · purpling · purpled

1. intransitive To turn purple in colour. [T]he Capri cliffs, the tops of which were still pink against the purpling sky.
2. transitive To dye purple. Year after year unto her feet, / She lying on her couch alone, / Across the purpled coverlet, / The maiden's jet-black hair has grown, […]
3. transitive To clothe in purple.

proper noun

1. rare A surname from Middle English.