purfle
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to finish with an ornamental border.
-
to decorate (a shrine or tabernacle) with architectural forms in miniature.
noun
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of purfle
1275–1325; Middle English purfilen < Middle French porfiler to make or adorn a border, equivalent to por- pro 1 + filer to spin, derivative of fil thread < Latin fīlum. See profile
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:
Hast aught plotting in the hem of thy purfle, or in thy holiday ruff and fardingale?
From Traditions of Lancashire, Volume 1 by John Roby
Alive or dead, Riton used them despitefully; for it was his wont to shave the beards of these kings, and purfle therewith a cloak of furs that he wore, very rich.
From Arthurian Chronicles: Roman de Brut by Eugene Mason
He made some good instruments, but did not purfle them.
From Violins and Violin Makers Biographical Dictionary of the Great Italian Artistes, their Followers and Imitators, to the present time. With Essays on Important Subjects Connected with the Violin. by J. H. (Joseph Henry) Pearce
This toll was established because sir Crudor, with whom she was in love, refused to marry her till she had provided him with human hair sufficient to "purfle a mantle" with.
From Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction and the Drama, Vol. 1 A Revised American Edition of the Reader's Handbook by Ebenezer Cobham Brewer
These futile trappings but recall Degenerate worshippers who fall In purfled kirtle and brocade To 'parel the white Mother-Maid.
From Poems by Francis Thompson
The furniture of the divans was of raw silk stuffed with ostrich- down and the cushions were purfled with gold.
From The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 15 by Sir Richard Francis Burton
Item—A coat for her son, of the same satin, purfled with black velvet, and spangled with gold.
From The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 20, No. 577, July 7, 1827 by Various
His horse, a charger of the largest size, and well able to sustain his vast weight, was trapped in crimson velvet, purfled with ermines.
From Windsor Castle by William Harrison Ainsworth
Her belt was of some costly Byzantine stuff, all purfled with gold threads.
From The Pobratim A Slav Novel by P. Jones
The very beautiful subdivisions and subtleties of the curves in pattern and modelling began to disappear and the purfling became bolder.
From Antonio Stradivari by Horace William Petherick
The purfling of the brothers Amati is very beautifully executed.
From The Violin Its Famous Makers and Their Imitators by George Hart
The purfling, particularly after some years, is narrower, and inserted with a precision and ease in its course impossible to excel, even if approachable.
From Antonio Stradivari by Horace William Petherick
At present the piece of purfling, having been taken from a portion of an old violin bought for the purpose of breaking up and using for repairs, is very dry and rather brittle.
From The Repairing & Restoration of Violins 'The Strad' Library, No. XII. by Horace Petherick
When in two parts, sometimes with a piece of purfling inserted—each side is subject to damage either by the tampering with the tail pin, the nut above, or during repeated removals of the upper table.
From The Repairing & Restoration of Violins 'The Strad' Library, No. XII. by Horace Petherick
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
