purling


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purl 1

 (pûrl)
intr.v. purled, purl·ing, purls
To flow or ripple with a murmuring sound.
n.
The sound made by rippling water.

[Probably of Scandinavian origin.]

purl 2

also pearl  (pûrl)
v. purled, purl·ing, purls also pearled or pearl·ing or pearls
v.tr.
1. To knit (yarn) with a purl stitch.
2. To edge or finish (a handkerchief, for example) with lace or embroidery.
v.intr.
1. To do knitting with a purl stitch.
2. To edge or finish with lace or embroidery.
n.
1. Abbr. p. Inversion of a knit stitch; purl stitch.
2. A decorative edging of lace or embroidery.
3. Gold or silver wire used in embroidery.

[Origin unknown.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
References in classic literature ?
"Slim and I hiked out to a neck of woods just beyond town, and there was the push, a score of husky hobos, charmingly located on the bank of a little purling stream.
From the vague accounts we sometimes have of their beauty, many people are apt to picture to themselves enamelled and softly swelling plains, shaded over with delicious groves, and watered by purling brooks, and the entire country but little elevated above the surrounding ocean.
If the truth must be told, I did not like his best things at first, but long remained chiefly attached to his rubbishing pastorals, which I was perpetually imitating, with a whole apparatus of swains and shepherdesses, purling brooks, enamelled meads, rolling years, and the like.
Only a little while back, when I was riding and suffering, what a heaven this peace, this rest, this sweet serenity in this secluded shady nook by this purling stream would have seemed, where I could keep perfectly comfortable all the time by pouring a dipper of water into my armor now and then; yet already I was getting dissatisfied; partly be- cause I could not light my pipe -- for, although I had long ago started a match factory, I had forgotten to bring matches with me -- and partly because we had nothing to eat.
Only deign to sit and eat." He spake no dream; for, as his words had end, Our Saviour, lifting up his eyes, beheld, In ample space under the broadest shade, A table richly spread in regal mode, With dishes piled and meats of noblest sort And savour--beasts of chase, or fowl of game, In pastry built, or from the spit, or boiled, Grisamber-steamed; all fish, from sea or shore, Freshet or purling brook, of shell or fin, And exquisitest name, for which was drained Pontus, and Lucrine bay, and Afric coast.
As he spoke he scrambled down one of the narrow ravines, and, climbing over a low ridge at the further end, he led them into a short valley with a stream purling down the centre of it and a very thick growth of elder and of box upon either side.
When purling a stitch to the left of a knit stitch, insert your needle into the stitch purlwise as usual, but when making the purl stitch, wrap the yarn around the needle in the opposite direction.
We shouldn't be surprised that they are now seeing a relationship between purling and prayer.
The blonde singer, known for her kinky stage costumes featuring whips, horses' tails, and peacock feathers has been purling away on the tour bus.
Cameron Diaz, Sandra Bullock, Julia Roberts, Winona Ryder, Goldie Hawn and Julianne Moore have also been snapped knitting one and purling one.