purl
/pɜːl//pɝl/
purl noun: a particular stitch in knitting in which the working yarn is pulled through an existing stitch from front to back.
Noun (1)
purl (plural purls)
- A particular stitch in knitting in which the working yarn is pulled through an existing stitch from front to back.
- The edge of lace trimmed with loops.
- An embroidered and puckered border; a hem or fringe, often of gold or silver twist; also, a pleat or fold, as of a band.
- A triumphant chariot made of carnation velvet, enriched with purl and pearl.a. 1587, Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “(please specify the folio)”, in [Fulke Greville; Matthew Gwinne; John Florio], editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New Arcadia], London...
Verb (1)
purl (third-person singular simple present purls, present participle purling, simple past and past participle purled)
- To decorate with fringe or embroidered edge
- Needlework purled with gold.
- To use or create a purl stitch or stitches.
- Knit one, purl two.
- Stockinette fabric is created by knitting the right-side rows and purling the wrong-side rows.
Noun (2)
purl (plural purls)
- a heavy or headlong fall; an upset.
Verb (2)
purl (third-person singular simple present purls, present participle purling, simple past and past participle purled)
- To upset, to spin, capsize, fall heavily, fall headlong.
- The huntsman was purled from his horse.
Verb (3)
purl (third-person singular simple present purls, present participle purling, simple past and past participle purled)
- To flow with a murmuring sound in swirls and eddies.
- Swift o'er the rolling pebbles, down the hills, / Louder and louder purl the falling rills.1715–1720, Homer, “Book XXI”, in Alexander Pope, transl., The Iliad of Homer, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintott […], →OCLC
- There is a water-break formed by a small terrace of rock in mid-stream, and purling with a hollow, delicious monotone—an island of pebbles is above, with here and there smaller ones near the "forks."1846 October, Alfred B[illings] Street, “A Day’s Hunting about the Mongaup”, in George R[ex] Graham, editor, Graham’s American Monthly Magazine of Literature and Art, volume XXIX, number 4...
- To rise in circles, ripples, or undulations; to curl; to mantle.
- thin winding breath which purled up to the sky1594, William Shakespeare, Lucrece (First Quarto), London: […] Richard Field, for Iohn Harrison, […], →OCLC
Noun (3)
purl (plural purls)
- A circle made by the motion of a fluid; an eddy; a ripple.
- Caiſters ſiluer Lake, / […] / VVhoſe ſtreame an eaſie breath doth ſeeme to blovve; / VVhich on the ſparkling grauell runns in purles, / As though the vvaues had been of ſiluer curles.[1596], Michaell Drayton [i.e., Michael Drayton], Mortimeriados. The Lamentable Ciuell Warres of Edward the Second and the Barrons, London: […] I. R. for Humfry Lownes, […], →OCLC, signature Q, recto
- Whatsoever had a beginning, can also have an ending; and it shall die, unless it be daily watered with the purls flowing from the fountain of life, and refreshed with the dew of heaven, and the wells of God: […]1668, “Twenty-seven Sermons Preached at Golden Grove; Being for the Summer Half-year, […]: Sermon VIII. A Funeral Sermon, &c.”, in Reginald Heber, editor, The Whole Works of the Right Rev. Jeremy...
- A gentle murmuring sound, such as that produced by the running of a liquid among obstructions.
- the purl of a brook
Noun (4)
purl (uncountable)
- Ale or beer spiced with wormwood or other bitter herbs, regarded as a tonic.
- A double mug of purle.1711, The Spectator, number 88
- Hot beer mixed with gin, sugar, and spices.
- Drank a glass of purl to recover appetite.1712 March 14 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “MONDAY, March 4, 1711–1712”, in The Spectator, number 317; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a...
- Drinking hot purl, and smoking pipes.1841 February–November, Charles Dickens, “Barnaby Rudge. Chapter 60.”, in Master Humphrey’s Clock, volume III, London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC
purl meaning in Urdu
purl in Urdu
- ڈوبنا, گردش کرنا
Examples of purl in a sentence
- At seven minutes past four, while a Bach sonata was purling under the din of the crowd, the President's reaching hand was struck aside, and a man lurched forward.1959, Margaret Leech, “Appointment at Buffalo”, in In the Days of McKinley, New York: Harper & Brothers, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 595:
- A little creek purled down from the mountain over stones[.]1973, Patsy Adam Smith, The Barcoo Salute, Adelaide: Rigby, page 39:
- [T]he road purled out ahead of us for miles, all prospect and promise, like the beginning of a long, good friendship.2023 October 23, Murr Brewster, “Grizzlies and caribou and wolves, oh my! Savoring Denali’s delights.”, in The Christian Science Monitor:
Forms of purl
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | purls |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | purls |
| present participle | purling |
| past participle | purled |
| past | purled |
Origin of purl
Unknown; apparently related to Scots and dialect pirl (“twist, ripple, whirl, spin”), and possibly to Older Scots pyrl ("thrust or poke at"). Compare Venetan pirlo, an embellishment where the woven threads are twisted together. May be unrelated to purfle, though the meanings are similar.
from Middle English pirle (“whirligig”), Middle Italian pirla (“whipping top”).
From Old Norse purla (“to babble”), possibly ultimately from an imitative Germanic base related to Dutch polder, Norwegian puldra (“to gush”) and pulla (“to bubble”), Old English polr (“marsh”).
Words formed from purl
Words that rhyme with purl
Questions about purl
- What does purl mean?
- Purl means a particular stitch in knitting in which the working yarn is pulled through an existing stitch from front to back.
- What is purl in Urdu?
- Purl in Urdu is ڈوبنا, گردش کرنا. See Purl meaning in Urdu.
- How do you use purl in a sentence?
- At seven minutes past four, while a Bach sonata was purling under the din of the crowd, the President's reaching hand was struck aside, and a man lurched forward.
- What part of speech is purl?
- Purl can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce purl?
- Purl is pronounced /pɜːl/ (UK).
- What is the plural of purl?
- The plural of purl is purls.
Words near purl in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: purl (page history and authors); purl (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-purl.wav, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-purl.wav.
Cite this entry: “purl.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/purl. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.