Pearl Definition
pûrl
pearls
noun
A smooth, hard, usually white or bluish-gray body of varied but usually roundish shape that is an abnormal nacreous growth within the shell of some oysters and certain other bivalve mollusks and forms around a grain of sand, a parasite, or some other foreign object: it is used as a gem.
Webster's New World
A bead resembling one of these masses.
American Heritage
Webster's New World
Mother-of-pearl; nacre.
American Heritage
Any person or thing regarded as like a pearl in some way, as in size, shape, color, beauty, value, etc.
Webster's New World
verb
pearls
To adorn or cover with pearls or pearl-like drops.
Webster's New World
To fish for pearl-bearing mollusks, esp. oysters.
Webster's New World
To make like a pearl in shape.
Webster's New World
Webster's New World
To form beads resembling pearls.
American Heritage
adjective
Of or having pearls.
Webster's New World
Like a pearl in shape or color.
Webster's New World
Made of mother-of-pearl.
Pearl buttons.
Webster's New World
pronoun
A female given name from the English noun pearl.
Wiktionary
idiom
cast pearls before swine
- to present something of great interest or value to someone incapable of appreciating it
Webster's New World
Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Pearl
Origin of Pearl
Middle English perle from Old French from Latin pernula diminutive of perna ham, seashell (from the shape of the shell)
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
-
From Old French perle, from Medieval Latin perla. The surfing sense is from “pearl diving", it being imagined the surfer is diving down for pearls.
From Wiktionary
Find Similar Words
Find similar words to pearl using the buttons below.