<B>purlieu, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a piece of land on the border of a forest, especially one formerly included in the forest and still subject in part to the forest laws. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) one's haunt or resort; one's bounds. <DD><B> 3. </B>any bordering, neighboring, or outlying region or district. <BR><I>expr. <B>purlieus,</B> <DD><B> a. </B>the parts around the border of any place. </I> <I>Ex. A wolf ... was skulking about the purlieus of the camp (Washington Irving).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>nearby parts; vicinity; environs. <BR> <I>Ex. (Figurative.) to walk within the purlieus of the law.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="purlin">
<B>purlin</B> or <B>purline, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a horizontal beam running the length of a roof and supporting the top rafters of the roof. </DL>
<A NAME="purloin">
<B>purloin, </B>transitive verb, intransitive verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> to steal. <BR> <I>Ex. A certain document of the last importance has been purloined from the royal apartments (Edgar Allan Poe).</I> noun <B>purloiner.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="puromycin">
<B>puromycin, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> an antibiotic drug produced from a soil actinomycete, used to treat certain protozoan diseases and to retard tumor growth. </DL>
<A NAME="purple">
<B>purple, </B>noun, adjective, verb, <B>-pled,</B> <B>-pling.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a dark color made by mixing red and blue. <DD><B> 2. </B>crimson. This was the ancient meaning of purple. <DD><B> 3. </B>purple cloth or clothing, especially as worn by emperors, kings, and princes, to indicate high rank. <DD><B> 4. </B>(Figurative.) imperial, royal, or high rank. A prince is born to the purple. <DD><B> 5. </B>the rank or position of a cardinal. <DD><B> 6. </B>any one of several gastropods having a gland that secretes a purplish fluid. One kind is common on both shores of the Atlantic. <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>of the color of purple. <DD><B> 2. </B><B>=crimson.</B> <DD><B> 3. </B>imperial; royal. <DD><B> 4. </B>brilliant; gorgeous. <DD><B> 5. </B>very ornate in style. <BR> <I>Ex. purple prose.</I> <DD><I>v.t., v.i. </I> to make or become purple. </DL>
<A NAME="purplefinch">
<B>purple finch,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a sparrow-sized finch of eastern North America, the male of which has a rose-colored breast, head, and rump. </DL>
<A NAME="purplefringedorchid">
<B>purple-fringed orchid,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> one of two North American orchids, with fringed, purplish flowers. </DL>
<A NAME="purplegallinule">
<B>purple gallinule,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a brilliantly colored gallinule, of the warmer regions of America, having bluish-purple head, neck, and underparts. </DL>
<A NAME="purplegrackle">
<B>purple grackle,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a large, purplish, iridescent blackbird found along the Atlantic coastal belt from southern New England and New York to Florida and Louisiana. </DL>
<A NAME="purpleheart">
<B>purpleheart, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a tree growing in tropical America whose wood is used for fine furniture and intricate inlaid work. <DD><B> 2. </B>the wood itself, purple in color, and noted for its durability. </DL>
<A NAME="purpleheart">
<B>purple heart,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (British Slang.) a narcotic drug sold in the form of a purple tablet; drinamyl. <BR> <I>Ex. ... the danger to teen-agers through the ease of getting purple hearts and pep pills (Scotsman).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="purpleheart">
<B>Purple Heart,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a medal awarded to members of the armed forces of the United States for wounds received in action against an enemy or as a result of enemy action. </DL>
<A NAME="purpleheron">
<B>purple heron,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a European heron resembling the common heron, but darker in coloration and in some places purplish. <BR> <I>Ex. The purple heron, with its angular wing and gorgeous body, kept us close company (London Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="purpleloosestrife">
<B>purple loosestrife,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a variety of loosestrife three feet or more in height with spikes of purple flowers, found in north temperate regions and Australia. </DL>
<A NAME="purplemartin">
<B>purple martin,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a large, blue-black swallow of temperate North America, except the Pacific Coast region. </DL>
<A NAME="purplemedic">
<B>purple medic,</B> =alfalfa.</DL>
<A NAME="purplepatch">
<B>purple patch</B> or <B>passage,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a part or passage of a written work that is very ornate in style. <BR> <I>Ex. His narrative is robust, but it falls easily into the purple patches of a boys' magazine (Punch).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="purplesandpiper">
<B>purple sandpiper,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a sandpiper with black or grayish head and back, found in arctic regions and, in the winter, south into the northern United States. </DL>
<A NAME="purplevetch">
<B>purple vetch,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a weak-stemmed plant of the pea family with purple and white flowers, extensively grown in the Pacific Coast states for cattle feed and as ground cover. </DL>
<B>purport, </B>verb, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to claim or profess. <BR> <I>Ex. The letter purported to be from the governor. The recommendations ... were purely procedural ones--or, at any rate, that is what they were intended to be and purported to be (New Yorker).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to have as its main idea; mean. <BR> <I>Ex. a statement purporting certain facts.</I> <DD><I>noun </I> the main idea; meaning. <BR> <I>Ex. The purport of her letter was that she could not come.</I> (SYN) sense, gist, signification. adv. <B>purportedly.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="purportless">
<B>purportless, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> without purport or meaning. </DL>
<A NAME="purpose">
<B>purpose, </B>noun, verb, <B>-posed,</B> <B>-posing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>something one has in mind to get or do; plan; aim; intention. <BR> <I>Ex. His purpose was to discover how long these guests intended to stay (Joseph Conrad).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>the object or end for which a thing is made, done, or used. <BR> <I>Ex. The purpose of government he conceived to be the execution of justice (James A. Froude).</I> <DD><I>v.t., v.i. </I> to plan; aim; intend. <BR> <I>Ex. my next experiment ... which I purpose to describe more at length (Thoreau). I purposed writing a little comment on each virtue (Benjamin Franklin).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>on purpose,</B> </I>with a purpose; not by accident; intentionally. <BR> <I>Ex. He tripped me on purpose. It was merely a mistake, but her Ladyship was convinced that it was done on purpose (Maria Edgeworth).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>to good purpose,</B> </I>with good results. <BR> <I>Ex. His letter may ... be made public to good purpose (Freethinker).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>to little</B> (or <B>no</B>) <B>purpose,</B> </I>with few or no results. <BR> <I>Ex. I used to insist on this ... but ... to no purpose (Harriet Martineau).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>to the purpose,</B> </I>to the point; relevant; pertinent. <BR> <I>Ex. His defending argument was well to the purpose.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="purposeful">
<B>purposeful, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having a purpose. <BR> <I>Ex. It has been my natural disposition to see this war as something purposeful (H. G. Wells).</I> adv. <B>purposefully.</B> noun <B>purposefulness.</B> </DL>
<B>purposely, </B>adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD> on purpose; intentionally. <BR> <I>Ex. Did you leave the door open purposely?</I> </DL>
<A NAME="purposive">
<B>purposive, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>acting with, having, or serving some purpose. <BR> <I>Ex. a purposive organ, a purposive structure.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>purposeful; resolute. <BR> <I>Ex. His mental processes were abnormally purposive (Harper's).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>of or having to do with purpose. <BR> <I>Ex. The purposive approach ... sees man as a composite body and mind whose controlling force is drive, motivation or purpose (Scientific American).</I> adv. <B>purposively.</B> noun <B>purposiveness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="purpresture">
<B>purpresture, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Law.) an illegal enclosure of or encroachment upon property that belongs to the public or, formerly, to another person, such as the shutting up or obstruction of a highway or of navigable waters. </DL>
<A NAME="purpura">
<B>purpura, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> any one of various diseases characterized by purple or livid spots on the skin or mucous membrane, caused by hemorrhages underneath the skin. </DL>
<A NAME="purpurate">
<B>purpurate, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Chemical.) a salt of purpuric acid. </DL>
<A NAME="purpure">
<B>purpure, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Heraldry.) the purple color in coats of arms, in engraving represented by diagonal lines from the sinister chief to the dexter base. </DL>
<B>purpuric, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>having or producing a purple color. <DD><B> 2. </B>of or like the disease purpura. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Chemistry.) having to do with or derived from purpuric acid. </DL>
<A NAME="purpuricacid">
<B>purpuric acid,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a nitrogen-containing, organic acid, yielding salts which form purple or red solutions. </DL>
<A NAME="purpurin">
<B>purpurin, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a red or orange, crystalline organic compound, originally obtained from madder, but now also prepared from alizarin, used in dyeing. </DL>
<A NAME="purr">
<B>purr, </B>noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> a low, murmuring sound such as a cat makes when pleased. <DD><I>v.i., v.t. </I> to make a low murmuring sound. <BR> <I>Ex. It [a young leopard] ... purred like a cat when we stroked it with our hands (Daniel Defoe). ... His engine purring almost inaudibly along the level road (H. G. Wells). The little girl purred content.</I> <DD> Also, <B>pur.</B> adv. <B>purringly.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="pursang">
<B>pur sang,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (French.) <DD><B> 1. </B>true-born; thoroughbred. <BR> <I>Ex. Why ... did a mathematician pur sang, as Boole certainly was, feel drawn to logic (New Scientist).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(literally) pure blood. </DL>
