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purl

UK/pɜːl/US/pɝl/
nounC2Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #13,750 of 15,258neutral

Other forms: purls

Purl is a stitch that makes a ridge on the front of knitting. Knit one, purl one, a row of purl, purl stitch.

It is simply a knit stitch worked from the other side, so a purl on one face is a knit on the other. Alternating them gives ribbing, and knitting every row on one side and purling the other gives stocking stitch.

Sten Porse · CC BY-SA 3.0

Definitions of purl

  1. 1nounpurlA stitch that makes a ridge on the front of knitting.C2

    “The pattern is simple: one knit, one purl, all the way along the row.”

purl is a stitch.

Where it comes from

Of unknown origin, apparently related to a Scots and dialect word meaning to twist or ripple.

Built from

  • pirl · Scots — twist, ripple, whirl, spin

unknown; apparently related to Scots and dialect pirl (“twist, ripple, whirl, spin”), and possibly to Older Scots pyrl ("thrust or poke at"). Compare Venetan pirlo, an embellishment where the woven threads are twisted together. May be unrelated to purfle, though the meanings are similar.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Knitting & Sewing

Practise this word

purl in the wild

  • The number of knit and purl stripes (wales) are generally equal, although they need not be.

    Ribbing (knitting)

  • Ribbing has a strong tendency to contract laterally, forming small pleats in which the purl stitches recede and the knit stitches come forward.

    Ribbing (knitting)

  • In knitting, welting is the horizontal analog of ribbing; that is, one or more horizontal rows of knit stitches alternating with one or more rows of purl stitches.

    Welting (knitting)

  • The simplest welting is garter stitch, in which knit rows alternate with purl rows.

    Welting (knitting)

  • The English took the drink with them to North America and a purl house was opened in New York, where rich punches and possets were popular.

    Purl

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.