Purge, purj, v.t. to make pure: to carry off whatever is impure or superfluous: to clear from guilt or from accusation: to evacuate, as the bowels: to trim, dress, prune: to clarify, as liquors.—v.i. to become pure by clarifying: to have frequent evacuations.—n. act of purging: a medicine that purges.—n. Purgā′tion, a purging: a clearing away of impurities: (law) the act of clearing from suspicion or imputation of guilt, a cleansing.—adj. Pur′gative, cleansing: having the power of evacuating the intestines.—n. a medicine that evacuates.—adv. Pur′gatively.—adjs. Purgatō′rial, Purgatō′rian, pertaining to purgatory; Pur′gatory, purging or cleansing: expiatory.—n. (R.C.) a place or state in which souls are after death purified from venial sins: any kind or state of suffering for a time.—ns. Pur′ger, a person or thing that purges; Pur′ging, act of cleansing or clearing. [Fr. purger—L. purgāre, -ātum—purus, pure, agĕre, to do.]
Purify, pū′ri-fī, v.t. to make pure: to cleanse from foreign or hurtful matter: to free from guilt or uncleanness: to free from improprieties or barbarisms, as language.—v.i. to become pure:—pa.t. and pa.p. pū′rifīed.—n. Purificā′tion, act of purifying: (B.) the act of cleansing ceremonially by removing defilement: a cleansing of the soul from moral guilt or defilement: a crushing of desire after anything evil: the pouring of wine into the chalice to rinse it after communion, the wine being then drunk by the priest.—adj. Pū′rificātive.—n. Pū′rificātor.—adj. Pū′rificātory, tending to purify or cleanse.—n. Pū′rifier.—Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a feast observed in the R.C. Church on February 2d, in commemoration of the purification of the Virgin Mary, according to the Jewish ceremonial (Lev. xii. 2) forty days after the birth of Christ. [Fr. purifier—L. purificāre—purus, pure, facĕre, to make.]
Purim, pū′rim, n. the feast of lots held about 1st of March, in which the Jews commemorated their deliverance from the plot of Haman, as related in Esther. [Heb., pl. of pur, lot.]
Purism, pūr′izm, n. exclusion of mixture of any kind: pure or immaculate conduct or style: the doctrine of a purist: great nicety or care in the use of words.—n. Pūr′ist, one who is excessively pure or nice in the choice of words.—adj. Pūris′tic.
Puritan, pūr′i-tan, n. one aiming at greater strictness in religious life, esp. one of a religious and political party having such aims in the time of Elizabeth and the Stuarts.—adj. pertaining to the Puritans.—adjs. Pūritan′ic, -al, like a Puritan: rigid: exact.—adv. Pūritan′ically.—v.i. Pūr′itanise.—n. Pūr′itanism, a puritan manner of life: strictness of life: simplicity and purity of worship: the notions or practice of Puritans. [L. puritas, purity—purus, pure.]
Purity, pūr′i-ti, n. condition of being pure: freedom from mixture of any kind: freedom from sin or defilement: chastity: sincerity: freedom from foreign or improper idioms or words.
Purl, purl, v.i. to flow with a murmuring sound, as a stream over small stones: to ripple: to flow in eddies: to curl or swirl.—v.t. to whirl about: to unseat.—n. a soft murmuring sound, as of a stream among stones: an eddy or ripple.—n. Purl′ing, the act of flowing with a gentle, murmuring sound: the murmuring sound of a small stream. [Prob. freq. of purr; cf. Sw. porla, Ger. perlen, to bubble.]
Purl, purl, v.t. to fringe with a waved edging, as lace: to invert stitches.—n. an embroidered border: a hem or fringe of twisted gold or silver thread: a ribbed or wavy appearance caused by inverted stitches: a kind of 16th-cent. lace. [Purfle.]
Purl, purl, n. ale warmed and spiced.
Purlieu, pur′lū, n. the borders or environs of any place: (orig.) the grounds on the borders of a royal forest, illegally added to the forest, but afterwards restored to their rightful owners, and marked out by perambulation. [Acc. to Skeat, a corr. of O. Fr. puralee (a mere translation of L. perambulatio), land severed from a royal forest by perambulation—O. Fr. pur (=L. pro), allee, a going.]