Webster's Unabridged Dictionary - Letter P - Page 149

Purflew (n.) A border of any heraldic fur.

Purfled (a.) Ornamented; decorated; esp., embroidered on the edges.

Purfling (n.) Ornamentation on the border of a thing; specifically, the inlaid border of a musical instrument, as a violin.

Purgament (n.) That which is excreted; excretion.

Purgament (n.) A cathartic; a purgative.

Purgation (n.) The act of purging; the act of clearing, cleansing, or putifying, by separating and carrying off impurities, or whatever is superfluous; the evacuation of the bowels.

Purgation (n.) The clearing of one's self from a crime of which one was publicly suspected and accused. It was either canonical, which was prescribed by the canon law, the form whereof used in the spiritual court was, that the person suspected take his oath that he was clear of the matter objected against him, and bring his honest neighbors with him to make oath that they believes he swore truly; or vulgar, which was by fire or water ordeal, or by combat. See Ordeal.

Purgative (a.) Having the power or quality of purging; cathartic.

Purgative (n.) A purging medicine; a cathartic.

Purgatively (adv.) In a purgative manner.

Purgatorial (a.) Alt. of Purgatorian

Purgatorian (a.) Of or pertaining to purgatory; expiatory.

Purgatorian (n.) One who holds to the doctrine of purgatory.

Purgatory (a.) Tending to cleanse; cleansing; expiatory.

Purgatory (n.) A state or place of purification after death; according to the Roman Catholic creed, a place, or a state believed to exist after death, in which the souls of persons are purified by expiating such offenses committed in this life as do not merit eternal damnation, or in which they fully satisfy the justice of God for sins that have been forgiven. After this purgation from the impurities of sin, the souls are believed to be received into heaven.

Purged (imp. & p. p.) of Purge

Purging (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Purge

Purge (v. t.) To cleanse, clear, or purify by separating and carrying off whatever is impure, heterogeneous, foreign, or superfluous.

Purge (v. t.) To operate on as, or by means of, a cathartic medicine, or in a similar manner.

Purge (v. t.) To clarify; to defecate, as liquors.

Purge (v. t.) To clear of sediment, as a boiler, or of air, as a steam pipe, by driving off or permitting escape.

Purge (v. t.) To clear from guilt, or from moral or ceremonial defilement; as, to purge one of guilt or crime.

Purge (v. t.) To clear from accusation, or the charge of a crime or misdemeanor, as by oath or in ordeal.

Purge (v. t.) To remove in cleansing; to deterge; to wash away; -- often followed by away.

Purge (v. i.) To become pure, as by clarification.

Purge (v. i.) To have or produce frequent evacuations from the intestines, as by means of a cathartic.

Purge (v. t.) The act of purging.

Purge (v. t.) That which purges; especially, a medicine that evacuates the intestines; a cathartic.

Purger (n.) One who, or that which, purges or cleanses; especially, a cathartic medicine.

Purgery (n.) The part of a sugarhouse where the molasses is drained off from the sugar.

Purging (a.) That purges; cleansing.

Purging (n.) The act of cleansing; excessive evacuations; especially, diarrhea.

Puri (n.) See Euxanthin.

Purification (n.) The act of purifying; the act or operation of separating and removing from anything that which is impure or noxious, or heterogeneous or foreign to it; as, the purification of liquors, or of metals.

Purification (n.) The act or operation of cleansing ceremonially, by removing any pollution or defilement.

Purification (n.) A cleansing from guilt or the pollution of sin; the extinction of sinful desires, appetites, and inclinations.

Purificative (a.) Having power to purify; tending to cleanse.

Purificator (n.) One who, or that which, purifies; a purifier.

Purrificatory (a.) Serving or tending to purify; purificative.

Purifier (n.) One who, or that which, purifies or cleanses; a cleanser; a refiner.

Puriform (a.) In the form of pus.

Purified (imp. & p. p.) of Purify

Purifying (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Purify

Purify (v. t.) To make pure or clear from material defilement, admixture, or imperfection; to free from extraneous or noxious matter; as, to purify liquors or metals; to purify the blood; to purify the air.

Purify (v. t.) Hence, in figurative uses: (a) To free from guilt or moral defilement; as, to purify the heart.

Purify (v. t.) To free from ceremonial or legal defilement.

Purify (v. t.) To free from improprieties or barbarisms; as, to purify a language.

Purify (v. i.) To grow or become pure or clear.

Purim (n.) A Jewish festival, called also the Feast of Lots, instituted to commemorate the deliverance of the Jews from the machinations of Haman.

Purism (n.) Rigid purity; the quality of being affectedly pure or nice, especially in the choice of language; over-solicitude as to purity.

Purist (n.) One who aims at excessive purity or nicety, esp. in the choice of language.

Purist (n.) One who maintains that the New Testament was written in pure Greek.

Puristic (a.) Alt. of Puristical

Puristical (a.) Of or pertaining to purists or purism.

Puritan (n.) One who, in the time of Queen Elizabeth and the first two Stuarts, opposed traditional and formal usages, and advocated simpler forms of faith and worship than those established by law; -- originally, a term of reproach. The Puritans formed the bulk of the early population of New England.

Puritan (n.) One who is scrupulous and strict in his religious life; -- often used reproachfully or in contempt; one who has overstrict notions.

Puritan (a.) Of or pertaining to the Puritans; resembling, or characteristic of, the Puritans.

Puritanic (a.) Alt. of Puritanical

Puritanical (a.) Of or pertaining to the Puritans, or to their doctrines and practice.

Puritanical (a.) Precise in observance of legal or religious requirements; strict; overscrupulous; rigid; -- often used by way of reproach or contempt.

Puritanically (adv.) In a puritanical manner.

Puritanism (n.) The doctrines, notions, or practice of Puritans.

Puritanized (imp. & p. p.) of Puritanize

Puritanizing (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Puritanize

Puritanize (v. i.) To agree with, or teach, the doctrines of Puritans; to conform to the practice of Puritans.

Purity (n.) The condition of being pure.

Purity (n.) freedom from foreign admixture or deleterious matter; as, the purity of water, of wine, of drugs, of metals.

Purity (n.) Cleanness; freedom from foulness or dirt.

Purity (n.) Freedom from guilt or the defilement of sin; innocence; chastity; as, purity of heart or of life.

Purity (n.) Freedom from any sinister or improper motives or views.

Purity (n.) Freedom from foreign idioms, or from barbarous or improper words or phrases; as, purity of style.

Purkinje's cells () Large ganglion cells forming a layer near the surface of the cerebellum.

Purl (v. t.) To decorate with fringe or embroidery.

Purl (n.) An embroidered and puckered border; a hem or fringe, often of gold or silver twist; also, a pleat or fold, as of a band.

Purl (n.) An inversion of stitches in knitting, which gives to the work a ribbed or waved appearance.

Purled (imp. & p. p.) of Purl

Purling (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Purl

Purl (v. i.) 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.

Purl (v. & n.) To rise in circles, ripples, or undulations; to curl; to mantle.

Purl (n.) A circle made by the notion of a fluid; an eddy; a ripple.

Purl (n.) A gentle murmur, as that produced by the running of a liquid among obstructions; as, the purl of a brook.

Purl (n.) Malt liquor, medicated or spiced; formerly, ale or beer in which wormwood or other bitter herbs had been infused, and which was regarded as tonic; at present, hot beer mixed with gin, sugar, and spices.

Purl (n.) A tern.

Purlieu (n.) Originally, the ground near a royal forest, which, having been unlawfully added to the forest, was afterwards severed from it, and disafforested so as to remit to the former owners their rights.

Purlieu (n.) Hence, the outer portion of any place; an adjacent district; environs; neighborhood.

Purlin (n.) Alt. of Purline

Purline (n.) In root construction, a horizontal member supported on the principals and supporting the common rafters.

Purling (n.) The motion of a small stream running among obstructions; also, the murmur it makes in so doing.

Purloined (imp. & p. p.) of Purloin

Purloining (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Purloin

Purloin (v. t.) To take or carry away for one's self; hence, to steal; to take by theft; to filch.

Purloin (v. i.) To practice theft; to steal.

Purloiner (n.) One who purloins.

Purparty (n.) A share, part, or portion of an estate allotted to a coparcener.

Purples (pl. ) of Purple

Purple (n.) A color formed by, or resembling that formed by, a combination of the primary colors red and blue.

Purple (n.) Cloth dyed a purple color, or a garment of such color; especially, a purple robe, worn as an emblem of rank or authority; specifically, the purple rode or mantle worn by Roman emperors as the emblem of imperial dignity; as, to put on the imperial purple.

Purple (n.) Hence: Imperial sovereignty; royal rank, dignity, or favor; loosely and colloquially, any exalted station; great wealth.

Purple (n.) A cardinalate. See Cardinal.

Purple (n.) Any species of large butterflies, usually marked with purple or blue, of the genus Basilarchia (formerly Limenitis) as, the banded purple (B. arthemis). See Illust. under Ursula.

[previous page] [Index] [next page]