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Pure vs Purl - What's the difference?

pure | purl |

As an adjective pure

is free of flaws or imperfections; unsullied.

As an adverb pure

is to a great extent or degree; extremely; exceedingly.

As a noun purl is

a particular stitch in knitting; an inversion of stitches giving the work a ribbed or waved appearance.

As a verb purl is

to decorate with fringe or embroidered edge.

pure

English

Adjective

(en-adj)
  • Free of flaws or imperfections; unsullied.
  • * (1800-1859)
  • Such was the origin of a friendship as warm and pure as any that ancient or modern history records.
  • (senseid)Free of foreign material or pollutants.
  • * (Isaac Watts) (1674-1748)
  • A guinea is pure gold if it has in it no alloy.
  • Free of immoral behavior or qualities; clean.
  • * Bible, v. 22
  • Keep thyself pure .
  • (label) Done for its own sake instead of serving another branch of science.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2014-06-21, volume=411, issue=8892, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Magician’s brain , passage=The [Isaac] Newton that emerges from the [unpublished] manuscripts is far from the popular image of a rational practitioner of cold and pure reason. The architect of modern science was himself not very modern. He was obsessed with alchemy.}}
  • (label) Of a single, simple sound or tone; said of some vowels and the unaspirated consonants.
  • (label) Without harmonics or overtones; not harsh or discordant.
  • Synonyms

    * perfect * innocent * See also

    Antonyms

    * impure, contaminated * (done for its own sake) applied

    Derived terms

    * pure finder * as pure as the driven snow

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • (Liverpool) to a great extent or degree; extremely; exceedingly.
  • You’re pure busy.

    Anagrams

    * ----

    purl

    English

    Etymology 1

    Etymology uncertain; apparently related to Scots and dialect pirl ("twist, ripple, whirl, spin"), and possibly to Older Scots pyrl ("thrust or poke at"). Compare Venetian pirlo , an embellishment where the woven threads are twisted together. May be unrelated to purfle, though the meanings are similar.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A particular stitch in knitting; an inversion of stitches giving the work a ribbed or waved appearance.
  • 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.
  • * Sir Philip Sidney
  • A triumphant chariot made of carnation velvet, enriched with purl and pearl.

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To decorate with fringe or embroidered edge
  • Needlework purled with gold.
  • (knitting) an inverted stitch producing ribbing etc
  • Knit one, purl two.

    Etymology 2

    from (etyl)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • a heavy or headlong fall; an upset.
  • Verb

    (en verb)
  • (archaic) To upset, to spin, capsize, fall heavily, fall headlong.
  • The huntsman was purled from his horse.

    Etymology 3

    From (etyl)

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To flow with a murmuring sound in swirls and eddies.
  • * Alexander Pope
  • 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.
  • * Shakespeare
  • thin winding breath which purled up to the sky

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (UK, dialect) A circle made by the motion of a fluid; an eddy; a ripple.
  • * Drayton
  • Whose stream an easy breath doth seem to blow, / Which on the sparkling gravel runs in purles , / As though the waves had been of silver curls.
  • (UK, dialect) A gentle murmuring sound, such as that produced by the running of a liquid among obstructions.
  • the purl of a brook

    Etymology 4

    Possibly from the pearl-like appearance caused by bubbles on the surface of the liquid.

    Noun

    (-)
  • (archaic) Ale or beer spiced with wormwood or other bitter herbs, regarded as a tonic.
  • * The Spectator , number 88
  • A double mug of purle .
  • (archaic) Hot beer mixed with gin, sugar, and spices.
  • * Addison
  • Drank a glass of purl to recover appetite.
  • * Charles Dickens
  • Drinking hot purl , and smoking pipes.

    Etymology 5

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (UK, dialect) A tern.
  • (Webster 1913)

    Anagrams

    *