1. To make a gentle murmuring sound like water flowing through a small stream.
2. To flow or move in small swirls, eddies, or ripples.
3. To form knitting stitches by drawing the working yarn through in the reverse direction of a knit stitch.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- a purling stream
- water purls
- purl softly
On the page
Beyond the tent, water purled over the shallow stones.
Nearby words
Word forms
- Base
- purl
- Past tense
- purled
- Past participle
- purled
- Present participle
- purling
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- purl
- Present continuous
- am/is/are purling
- Present perfect
- have/has purled
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been purling
- Past
- purled
- Past continuous
- was/were purling
- Past perfect
- had purled
- Past perfect continuous
- had been purling
- Future
- will purl
- Future continuous
- will be purling
- Future perfect
- will have purled
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been purling
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Explore related collections
Usage notes
Primary category: poetic / figurative / atmospheric. Lexical Type: Word. Forms: purl; purls; purled; purled; purling Commonness: uncommon (editorial estimate; not a corpus frequency statistic). Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1; numbered fields keep each relevant meaning separate. Research distinction: Soft water murmur, swirling water movement and knitting action are distinct, not one generalized poetic meaning. MW verifies purled/purling/purls. Writing functions: atmospheric description, sensory precision. Third-person singular: purls.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
Keep a thought for later. Sign in to save privately.