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 Roby, John
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 Brewer, Ebenezer Cobham
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 Mason, Eugene
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 Pearce, J. H. (Joseph Henry)
They're sewn together with steel cross-stitches, halbert over sword, Pg 316Spear across lance and death the purfled seam!
From Adventures in Criticism by Quiller-Couch, Arthur Thomas, Sir
Made violins of rather small model, somewhat high built, rich yellow varnish, and sometimes double purfled.
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 Pearce, J. H. (Joseph Henry)
After them followed a troop of English gentlemen, two and two, and then the Knights of the Bath, "in gowns of violet, with hoods purfled with miniver like doctors."
From The Reign of Henry the Eighth, Volume 1 (of 3) by Froude, James Anthony
A surcoat of peach-colored samite and a purfled doublet of vair bespoke him noble, as did his brilliant eye, his exquisitely chiselled nose, and his curling chestnut ringlets.
From Burlesques by Thackeray, William Makepeace
The knight taketh Messire Gawain by the hand and leadeth him up, and maketh disarm him, and bringeth him a surcoat of scarlet purfled of vair and maketh him do it on.
From The High History of the Holy Graal by Evans, Sebastian
The heat causes the damp to evaporate and steam the materials, and the purfling will gradually assume the required curve.
From The Repairing & Restoration of Violins 'The Strad' Library, No. XII. by Petherick, Horace
One authority we have consulted calls this maker a pupil of Amati, and states that he used whalebone purfling.
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 Pearce, J. H. (Joseph Henry)
Much has been said of the wonderful accuracy of Stradivari's purfling and that as a purfler he stands unrivalled.
From Antonio Stradivari by Petherick, Horace William
The lower end of the joint near the purfling will require a little additional cramping together.
From The Repairing & Restoration of Violins 'The Strad' Library, No. XII. by Petherick, Horace
This is particularly noticeable when the arching springs rather abruptly from a narrow channel and near the purfling, or the rise commences from the border without channelling.
From The Repairing & Restoration of Violins 'The Strad' Library, No. XII. by Petherick, Horace
Definitions 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.
