Purl
PURL, noun [supposed to be contracted from purfle.]
1. An embroidered and puckered border.
2. A kind of edging for bone-lace.
PURL, noun A species of malt liquor; ale or beer medicated with wormwood or aromatic herbs.
PURL, noun Two rounds in knitting.
PURL, verb intransitive
1. To murmur, as a small stream flowing among stones or other obstructions, which occasion a continued series of broken sounds. It is applied only to small streams. Large streams running in like manner, are said to roar. In descriptions of rural scenery, the poets seldom omit a purling brook or stream.
My flowery theme,
A painted mistress or a purling stream.
2. To flow or run with a murmuring sound.
Around th' adjoining brook that purls along
The vocal grove, now fretting o'er a rock.
PURL, verb transitive To decorate with fringe or embroidery.
PURL, noun A gentle continued murmur of a small stream of rippling water.