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purl

Pronunciation: /pɜːl/

The English word “purl” has 13 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. A particular stitch in knitting in which the working yarn is pulled through an existing stitch from front to back.
  2. The edge of lace trimmed with loops.
  3. An embroidered and puckered border; a hem or fringe, often of gold or silver twist; also, a pleat or fold, as of a band.
  4. a heavy or headlong fall; an upset.
  5. A circle made by the motion of a fluid; an eddy; a ripple.
  6. A gentle murmuring sound, such as that produced by the running of a liquid among obstructions.
  7. Ale or beer spiced with wormwood or other bitter herbs, regarded as a tonic.
  8. Hot beer mixed with gin, sugar, and spices.

verb

  1. To decorate with fringe or embroidered edge
  2. To use or create a purl stitch or stitches.
  3. To upset, to spin, capsize, fall heavily, fall headlong.
  4. To flow with a murmuring sound in swirls and eddies.
  5. To rise in circles, ripples, or undulations; to curl; to mantle.

Etymology

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.

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.