pearly

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English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

pearl +‎ -y

Pronunciation[edit]

  • Audio (AU)(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)li

Noun[edit]

pearly (countable and uncountable, plural pearlies)

  1. (uncountable, uncommon, dated) A pale greyish white colour, tinted with blue.
    pearly:  
    • 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, British, slang, especially in plural) A tooth.

Translations[edit]

Adjective[edit]

pearly (comparative pearlier, superlative pearliest)

  1. Of a pale greyish white colour, tinted with blue.
  2. Resembling or characteristic of a pearl; nacreous.
    a pearly lustre
  3. Containing or yielding pearls.
  4. Having a pure sweet tone.

Derived terms[edit]

See also[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

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