Perl

American

[purl] / pɜrl /

Digital Technology, Trademark.

a high-level scripting language, originally created to help automate text processing, now used more broadly.

Perl British

/ pɜːl /

noun

a computer language that is used for text manipulation, esp on the Internet

"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

Etymology

Origin of Perl

Coined in 1987 by Perl's creator, Larry Wall, U.S. computer programmer (born 1954)

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Perl

In polls, few Gen Z-ers shared these priorities, but “it makes 100% sense that the economy is a top concern for people,” Perl said.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 28, 2026

Mr. Perl is an art critic and the author of the novel “We Never Called It Frisco.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026

Isobel Perl started her own skincare brand from her parents' house in Watford five years ago.

From BBC ● Dec. 28, 2025

In New York City, meanwhile, soil expert Sara Perl Egendorf saw that residents weren't sure how best to protect against soil lead contamination in urban gardens.

From Salon ● Mar. 22, 2023

The FBI had begun laying the groundwork for the case in the late 1940s, interrogating Langley employees about their knowledge of Perl and his possible conspirators.

From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

Get a word

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023