puncto; see [punto].
punctual, no bigger than a point, very small; ‘This opacous Earth, this punctual spot’, Milton, P. L. viii. 23.
punese, a bug. Butler, Hud. iii. 1. 437. F. punaise.
†pung, a ‘punk’, courtesan. Middleton, Mich. Term, iii. 1 (Lethe). Not found elsewhere.
punkateero, a purveyor of punks, a pander. Middleton, Blurt, Mr. Constable, iv. 1 (Curvetto). A jocose formation from punk, a strumpet, in imitation of Span. mulatero, muleteer, from mulo, mule. Not found elsewhere.
punto, a small point; in a punto, in a moment, B. Jonson, Every Man in Hum. iv. 7 (Bobadil); a nice point of behaviour, a ‘punctilio’, ‘Puntos and Complementes’, Bacon. Adv. L., bk. ii, c. 23, § 3; a stroke or thrust with the point of the sword or foil, Merry Wives, ii. 3. 26; punto riverso, a back-handed thrust, Romeo, ii. 4. 27; punto beard, a pointed beard, Shirley, Honoria, i. 2 (Alamode). Ital. and Span. punto, L. punctum, a point.
purchase, to acquire, obtain, gain. Tempest, iv. 1. 14; Richard II, i. 3. 282. Hence, purchase, acquired property, wealth, Webster, Duch. Malfi, iii. 1 (Antonio); spoil, booty, 1 Hen. IV, ii. 1. 101; Hen. V, iii. 2. 45; Spenser, F. Q. i. 3. 16; Marlowe, 1 Tamburlaine, ii. 5 (Theridamas). See Dict.
purfle, to embroider along an edge, to border, to ornament. Spenser, F. Q. i. 2. 13; ii. 3. 26; Milton, Comus, 995; ‘Pourfiler, to purfle, tinsell or overcast with gold thread’, Cotgrave.
purfle, the contour or outline of anything, the profile. Chapman, Byron’s Conspiracy, iii. 1 (Breton).
puritan, used ironically for a courtesan (Cant). Marston, What you Will, iii. 3 (Slip).