pur

[pur]

noun, verb (used with or without object), purred, pur·ring.

purr.

purr

or pur

[pur]

verb (used without object)

to utter a low, continuous, murmuring sound expressive of contentment or pleasure, as a cat does.

(of things) to make a sound suggestive of the purring of a cat: The new motor of the car purred.

verb (used with object)

to express by or as if by purring.

noun

the low, vibrating sound made by a cat by the contracting of the laryngeal muscles and the diaphragm as it breathes.

a sound resembling this.

the act of purring.

Origin of purr

First recorded in 1595–1605; imitative

Related formspurr·ing·ly, adverb

Can be confusedper purr (see usage note at per)

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

Examples from the Web for pur

Historical Examples of pur

Felix brought him in to tea, because we are to have his report for Pur.
The Pillars of the House, Vol. II (of 2)
Charlotte M. Yonge
I knew Cherry would have broken her heart to part with Pur.'
The Pillars of the House, Vol. II (of 2)
Charlotte M. Yonge
Wherefore they called these days Purim, after the name of Pur.
The Bible Story
Rev. Newton Marshall Hall
I am a Quartier Latinist, pur sang, and lodge only a street or two off.
In the Days of My Youth
Amelia Ann Blandford Edwards
"That is because you are not English pur sang," he cried gayly.
Lippincott's Magazine, Vol. XVII, No. 99, March, 1876
Various

British Dictionary definitions for pur

purr

verb

(intr) (esp of cats) to make a low vibrant sound, usually considered as expressing pleasure, etc

(tr) to express (pleasure, etc) by this sound

noun

a purring sound

Word Origin for purr

C17: of imitative origin; compare French ronronner to purr, German schnurren, Dutch snorren

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 pur

purr

1610s, of imitative origin. Related: Purred; purring. As a noun from c.1600.