pearl

[purl]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR pearl ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a smooth, rounded bead formed within the shells of certain mollusks and composed of the mineral aragonite or calcite in a matrix, deposited in concentric layers as a protective coating around an irritating foreign object: valued as a gem when lustrous and finely colored.Compare cultured pearl.

something resembling this, as various synthetic substances for use in costume jewelry.

something similar in form, luster, etc., as a dewdrop or a capsule of medicine.

something precious or choice; the finest example of anything: pearls of wisdom.

a very pale gray approaching white but commonly with a bluish tinge.

mother-of-pearl: a pearl-handled revolver.

Printing. a 5-point type.

Also called epithelial pearl. Pathology. a rounded mass of keratin occurring in certain carcinomas of the skin.

verb (used with object)

to adorn or stud with or as with pearls.

to make like pearls, as in form or color.

verb (used without object)

to dive, fish, or search for pearls.

to assume a pearllike form or appearance.

adjective

resembling a pearl in form or color.

of or relating to pearls: pearl diving.

set with a pearl or pearls or covered or inlaid with pearls or mother-of-pearl: a pearl necklace.

having or reduced to small, rounded grains.

Idioms

cast pearls before swine, to offer or give something of great value to those incapable of appreciating it: She read them Shakespeare but it was casting pearls before swine.

Origin of pearl

1300–50; Middle English perle < Middle French < Italian or assumed Vulgar Latin *perla (> German Perle, Old English pærl), for Latin *pernula (> Portuguese perola, perhaps Old Saxon përula), diminutive of Latin perna sea mussel

Related formspearl·er, nounpearl·ish, adjectivepearl·like, adjective

pearl

[purl]

verb (used with or without object), noun

purl¹.

Pearl

[purl]

noun

a town in central Mississippi.

a female given name.

purl

or pearl

[purl]

verb (used with or without object)

to knit with a reverse stitch.

to finish with loops or a looped edging.

noun

a basic stitch in knitting, the reverse of the knit, formed by pulling a loop of the working yarn back through an existing stitch and then slipping that stitch off the needle.Compare knit(def 11).

one of a series of small loops along the edge of lace braid.

thread made of twisted gold or silver wire.

Origin of purl

First recorded in 1520–30; variant of obsolete or dial. pirl to twist (threads, etc.) into a cord

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for pearl

seed, jewel, nacre, margarite

Examples from the Web for pearl

Contemporary Examples of pearl

What was America supposed to do after Pearl Harbor, put the keys to the Golden Gate in an airmail envelope and send them to Tojo?
Up To A Point: What We Really Need Is a Nobel War Prize
P. J. O’Rourke
October 11, 2014
In 1882, the Pearl Street station, in lower Manhattan, went on line, with 59 customers – mostly businesses and factories.
From Edison to Jobs
The Daily Beast
September 25, 2014
But after Pearl Harbor there was no longer a case for special pleading.
Blood and War: The Hard Truth About ‘Boots on the Ground’
Clive Irving
September 22, 2014
At halftime somebody had come into the dressing room and told us Pearl Harbor had been bombed by the Japs.
Football Great Bob Suffridge Wanders Through the End Zone of Life
Paul Hemphill
September 6, 2014
The artist quickly blamed event organizers, and he even criticized the band Pearl Jam for making him late.
Living by the Bonnaroo Code
Daniel G. Hill
June 12, 2014

Historical Examples of pearl

He compares it to little things, to a tiny seed, to a handful of leaven, to a pearl.
De Profundis
Oscar Wilde
"Just about as much as I gave you that pearl pin," retorted Kirkwood hotly.
The Black Bag
Louis Joseph Vance
You shake it; it's the pearl stud there was last year—that's all.
Monday or Tuesday
Virginia Woolf
Pearl Barley Water is made of an ounce of pearl barley, heated in half a pint of water over the fire in order to clean it.
The Cook and Housekeeper's Complete and Universal Dictionary; Including a System of Modern Cookery, in all Its Various Branches,
Mary Eaton
Ourn was a shrewd rascal and nothing more nor less than a pearl poacher.
Cape Cod Stories
Joseph C. Lincoln

British Dictionary definitions for pearl

pearl

noun

a hard smooth lustrous typically rounded structure occurring on the inner surface of the shell of a clam or oyster: consists of calcium carbonate secreted in layers around an invading particle such as a sand grain; much valued as a gemRelated adjectives: margaric, margaritic

any artificial gem resembling this

See mother-of-pearl

a person or thing that is like a pearl, esp in beauty or value

a pale greyish-white colour, often with a bluish tinge

a size of printer's type, approximately equal to 5 point

adjective

of, made of, or set with pearl or mother-of-pearl

having the shape or colour of a pearl

verb

(tr) to set with or as if with pearls

to shape into or assume a pearl-like form or colour

(intr) to dive or search for pearls

Word Origin for pearl

C14: from Old French, from Vulgar Latin pernula (unattested), from Latin perna sea mussel

pearl

noun, verb

a variant spelling of purl 1 (def. 2), purl 1 (def. 3), purl 1 (def. 5)

purl

noun

Also called: purl stitch a knitting stitch made by doing a plain stitch backwards

a decorative border, as of lace

gold or silver wire thread

verb

to knit (a row or garment) in purl stitch

to edge (something) with a purl

Also (for senses 2, 3, 5): pearl

Word Origin for purl

C16: from dialect pirl to twist into a cord

purl

verb

(intr) (of a stream, etc) to flow with a gentle curling or rippling movement and a murmuring sound

noun

a curling movement of water; eddy

a murmuring sound, as of a shallow stream

Word Origin for purl

C16: related to Norwegian purla to bubble

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for pearl

mid-13c., from Old French perle (13c.) and directly from Medieval Latin perla (mid-13c.), of unknown origin. Perhaps from Vulgar Latin *pernula, diminutive of Latin perna, which in Sicily meant "pearl," earlier "sea-mussel," literally "ham, haunch, gammon," so called for the shape of the mollusk shells.

Other theories connect it with the root of pear, also somehow based on shape, or Latin pilula "globule," with dissimilation. The usual Latin word for "pearl" was margarita (see margarite).

For pearls before swine, see swine. Pearl Harbor translates Hawaiian Wai Momi, literally "pearl waters," so named for the pearl oysters found there; transferred sense of "effective sudden attack" is attested from 1942 (in reference to Dec. 7, 1941).

purl

v.1

"knit with inverted stitches," 1825; earlier "embroider with gold or silver thread" (1520s), probably from Middle English pirlyng "revolving, twisting," of unknown origin. The two senses usually are taken as one word, but even this is not certain. Klein suggests a source in Italian pirolare "to twirl," from pirolo "top." As a noun, from late 14c. as "bordering, frills," 1530s as "twisted thread of gold and silver."

purl

v.2

"flow with a murmuring sound," 1580s, imitative, perhaps from a Scandinavian language. Related: Purled; purling.

pearl in Medicine

pearl

[pûrl]

n.

A small sphere of thin glass containing amyl nitrite or other volatile fluid, designed to be crushed, as in a handkerchief, so that its contents can be inhaled.

Any of a number of small tough masses of mucus occurring in the sputum in asthma.

pearl in Science

pearl

[pûrl]

A smooth, slightly iridescent, white or grayish rounded growth inside the shells of some mollusks. Pearls form as a reaction to the presence of a foreign particle, and consist of thin layers of mother-of-pearl that are deposited around the particle. The pearls of oysters are often valued as gems.