PURL • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Purl

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verb

Purl v. i. (past & past part. purled; pres. part. purling)

To run swiftly round, as a small stream flowing among stones or other obstructions; to eddy; also, to make a murmuring sound, as water does in running over or through obstructions. "Swift o'er the rolling pebbles, down the hills, Louder and louder purl the falling rills."

To rise in circles, ripples, or undulations; to curl; to mantle. "thin winding breath which purled up to the sky."

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Etymology of 'Purl'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Purl" Quotes from Famous Books

... know what prompted that statement, but it had the effect of making Lady Allie go off into one of her purl-two knit-two trances. ...

— The Prairie Mother • Arthur Stringer

... as the sun forsook the eastern main The pealing thunder shook the heav'nly plain; Majestic grandeur! From the zephyr's wing, Exhales the incense of the blooming spring. Soft purl the streams, the birds renew their notes, And through the air their mingled music floats, Through all the heav'ns what beauteous dyes are spread! But the west glories in the deepest red; So may our ...

— The Upward Path - A Reader For Colored Children • Various

... that she intended trying to purchase Charlie Sands by a gift. But I might have known her high integrity. She would not stoop to a bribe. And, as a matter of fact, happening to stop at the Ostermaiers' that evening to show Mrs. Ostermaier how to purl, I found that dear Tish, remembering the anniversary of his first sermon to us, had presented Mr. Ostermaier ...

— More Tish • Mary Roberts Rinehart

... that she heard the purl and whisper of running water, a sound dear to the hearts of all travelers. She veered to the left and found the little grove of trees with a thick shrubbery growing between, fed by the water of that diminutive brook. She ...

— Riders of the Silences • Max Brand

... sometimes used alone, caught down at regular intervals by small cross stitches; this is, I believe, called 'Lizzarding' (Fig. 3). Metal is also found in the form of 'guimp,' in flattened spirals (Fig. 4), and also in the 'Purl,' or copper wire covered with silk (Fig. 5), so common on the later satin books (compare ...

— English Embroidered Bookbindings • Cyril James Humphries Davenport

... from high, to bless his bowers, And feed with pregnant streams the plants and flowers: Soon as he clears whate'er their passage stay'd, And marks the future current with his spade, Swift o'er the rolling pebbles, down the hills, Louder and louder purl the falling rills; Before him scattering, they prevent his pains, And shine in mazy wanderings ...

— The Iliad of Homer • Homer

Words linked to "Purl" : noise, course, flow, whirlpool, broider, sough, resound, knit, purl stitch, eddy, thread, whirl, yarn, run, feed, swirl