See Also: pearl(2)(dictionary)
Pearl(medicine)
pearl(encyclopedia)
pearl(dictionary)
Pearl Air(tourism)
pearl(dictionary)
pearl-ash(medicine)
pearl(1)(dictionary)
White, Pearl(dictionary)
Pearl Harbor(dictionary)

pearl(2) (iou)



pearl noun1 & adjective. LME.
[Old & mod. French perle prob. from Proto-Romance, from Latin dim. of perna leg, ham, leg-of-mutton shaped bivalve.]
A. noun.
I.
A hard smooth round iridescent mass, usu. white or bluish grey, formed of layers of calcium carbonate deposited around a foreign body in the shell of certain bivalve molluscs and valued as a gem for its lustre; the substance of which this is composed. Now also, an artificial imitation of this; in pl., a necklace of pearls. LME.
pearl of orient: see ORIENT noun.
P. O'Donnell They have found..four button pearls, two drop pearls, and perhaps a dozen..seed pearls. S. Bellow She would wear pearls on her throat.
fig. A precious, noble, or fine thing; a fine or the finest example. LME.
cast pearls before swine offer a good or valuable thing to a person incapable of appreciating it.
Milton Keynes Express Rodney Henson..as stand in wicket keeper played a pearl of a match.
Heraldry (now Hist.). The tincture argent in the fanciful blazon of arms of peers. L16.
II. transf.
a. The pupil or lens of the eye. LME-E17.
b. A thin white film over the eye; a kind of cataract. obsolete exc. dial. LME.
A small round drop resembling a pearl in shape, colour, or lustre. LME.
E. Blishen A pearl of rain hung at his nose.
b. A small amount or size of something; spec. (a) a small piece of clean coal; (b) a small gelatinous capsule used to administer liquid medicine in pill form. M19.
collect. sing. & in pl. Teeth. L16.
Any of the bony protuberances encircling the base of a deer's antler. L16.
A size of type equal to about 5 points, formerly the smallest, later intermediate between ruby and diamond. M17.
Any of several small white or silver balls set on a coronet, spec. as represented on a heraldic charge; Philately a small white circle on a coloured ground. L17.
The colour of a pearl, a clear pale bluish grey. L17.
Westminster Gazette He watched the..dawn change from a thin grey line of pearl into..pink and amethyst.
b. attrib. or as adjective. Resembling a pearl in shape, colour, or lustre; made or consisting of pearl; set or provided with a pearl or pearls. L16.
Comb. & special collocations: pearl-ash commercial potassium carbonate; pearl barley: reduced to small rounded grains by grinding; pearl-berry (the pearl-like fruit of) an ornamental S. American rock-plant, Margyricarpus pinnatus, of the rose family; pearl-bordered adjective edged with (spots resembling) pearls; pearl-bordered fritillary, either of two European woodland fritillaries (butterflies) of the genus Boloria, with whitish spots on the underedge of the hindwings; pearl bulb an electric light bulb that is translucent rather than transparent; pearl-bush any of several Chinese shrubs of the genus Exochorda, related to Spiraea and bearing showy white flowers; pearl button a button made of pearl, mother-of-pearl, or an imitation of this; pearl-diver (a) a person who dives for pearl-oysters; (b) slang a person who washes crockery in a cafe or restaurant; pearlessence an imitation of mother-of-pearl, orig. made from fish-scales; pearl everlasting: see EVERLASTING noun 4; pearleye any of several long-bodied ocean fishes of the family Scopelarchidae, with tubular eyes which are directed upward and bear a glistening white spot that may be a light organ; pearlfish (a) a shellfish producing pearls; (b) any of various small slender fishes constituting the family Carapidae, which live in the shell or body cavities of marine bivalves, tunicates, and echinoderms; also called fierasfer; (c) any of several other fishes with pearly scales or pale spots (usu. with specifying word); pearl-fisher a person who fishes for pearls; pearl-fishery (a) = pearl-fishing below; (b) (an establishment in) a place or district where pearls are fished; pearl-fishing the occupation or industry of fishing for pearls; pearl-fruit = pearl-berry above; pearl-hen the domestic guinea-fowl; pearl millet a white-seeded form of bulrush millet, Pennisetum americanum; pearl mussel a mussel, esp. a freshwater one, from which pearls may be obtained; pearl onion a very small onion, used esp. for pickling; pearl-opal = CACHOLONG; pearl oyster any bivalve mollusc of the tropical genus Pinctada (family Pteriidae), esp. Pinctada margaritifera, a major commercial source of pearls; pearl-perch an edible marine percoid fish, Glaucosoma scapulare (family Glaucosomidae), of the east coast of Australia; pearl-powder a cosmetic powder for whitening the skin; pearl-shell mother-of-pearl; a shell which produces pearls or nacre; pearlside(s) a small cosmopolitan marine fish, Maurolicus muelleri (family Gonostomatidae), with a row of rounded pale blue light-organs along its belly and tail; pearl-sinter = FIORITE; pearl spar Mineralogy dolomite occurring as clusters of white or pinkish pearly rhombohedral crystals; pearl-stone = PERLITE; pearlware adjective & noun (designating) fine white glazed pottery, orig. manufactured by Josiah Wedgwood; pearl-white adjective & noun (a) adjective pearly white; (b) noun pearl-powder; pearlware; pearlwort any of various small plants of the genus Sagina, of the pink family, with inconspicuous white or apetalous flowers.
pear'lescence noun a pearlescent effect or material M20.
pear'lescent noun & adjective (a material or finish) resembling mother-of-pearl in colour, lustre, etc. M20.
pearlet noun (rare) a little pearl M16.
pearlish adjective slightly pearly L19.
pearlized adjective treated so as to resemble mother-of-pearl M20.
pearl-like adjective resembling (that of) a pearl E19.