Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Pearly

Pearl′y

,
Adj.
1.
Containing pearls; abounding with, or yielding, pearls;
as,
pearly
shells
.
Milton.
2.
Resembling pearl or pearls; clear; pure; transparent; iridescent;
as, the
pearly
dew or flood
.

Webster 1828 Edition


Pearly

PEARLY

,
Adj.
perl'y. Containing pearl; abounding with pearls; as pearly shells; a pearly shore.
1.
Resembling pearls; clear; pure; transparent; as the pearly flood; pearly dew.

Definition 2024


pearly

pearly

English

Noun

pearly (countable and uncountable, plural pearlies)

  1. (uncountable, uncommon, dated) A pale greyish white colour, tinted with blue.
    pearly colour:    
    • 1830, John Burnet, A practical treatise on painting, page 3:
      In nature we as often find the light cool as warm; also in the pictures of many of the Flemish and Dutch schools, where, as Sir Joshua himself mentions, " the silver gray or pearly is predominant, and are valued by the connoisseurs in proportion as they possess this excellence of a silver tint."
    • 1884, The popular educator‎, page 49:
      Pearly is that silky and often coloured lustre which renders of such value
    • 1899, St. Louis medical and surgical journal‎, page 126:
      When (the scales are) more developed and thickened, the color (pearly) is deepened, shading
  2. (countable, Britain, especially in plural) tooth

Translations

Adjective

pearly (comparative pearlier, superlative pearliest)

  1. Of a pale greyish white colour, tinted with blue.

Derived terms

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