1. [n]  a shade of white the color of bleached bones
2. [n]  a smooth lustrous round structure inside the shell of a clam or oyster; much valued as a jewel
3. [n]  a shape that is small and round; "he studied the shapes of low-viscosity drops"; "beads of sweat on his forehead"
4. [adj]  relating to or resembling or made of or adorned with pearls or mother-of-pearl; "a pearl-handled knife"
5. [v]  gather pearls, from oysters in the ocean

Pearl
In Pearl, Lynn Crosbie examines the often unsettling regions of loss and despair, in haunting and compelling terms. Crosbie s language is seductive, elliptical, and unnerving. Experiencing Pearl is to give yourself over to Crosbie s world, at the risk of not returning.

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1. \Pearl\, n.
   A fringe or border. [Obs.] -- v. t. To fringe; to border.
   [Obs.] See {Purl}.
   {Pearl stitch}. See {Purl stitch}, under {Purl}.
   

2. \Pearl\, n. [OE. perle, F. perle, LL. perla, perula,
   probably fr. (assumed) L. pirulo, dim. of L. pirum a pear.
   See {Pear}, and cf. {Purl} to mantle.]
   1. (Zo["o]l.) A shelly concretion, usually rounded, and
      having a brilliant luster, with varying tints, found in
      the mantle, or between the mantle and shell, of certain
      bivalve mollusks, especially in the pearl oysters and
      river mussels, and sometimes in certain univalves. It is
      usually due to a secretion of shelly substance around some
      irritating foreign particle. Its substance is the same as
      nacre, or mother-of-pearl. Pearls which are round, or
      nearly round, and of fine luster, are highly esteemed as
      jewels, and compare in value with the precious stones.
   2. Hence, figuratively, something resembling a pearl;
      something very precious.
            I see thee compassed with thy kingdom's pearl.
                                                  --Shak.
            And those pearls of dew she wears.    --Milton.
   3. Nacre, or mother-of-pearl.
   4. (Zo["o]l.) A fish allied to the turbot; the brill.
   5. (Zo["o]l.) A light-colored tern.
   6. (Zo["o]l.) One of the circle of tubercles which form the
      bur on a deer's antler.
   7. A whitish speck or film on the eye. [Obs.] --Milton.
   8. A capsule of gelatin or similar substance containing some
      liquid for medicinal application, as ether.
   9. (Print.) A size of type, between agate and diamond. [hand]
      This line is printed in the type called pearl.
   {Ground pearl}. (Zo["o]l.) See under {Ground}.
   {Pearl barley}, kernels of barley, ground so as to form
      small, round grains.
   {Pearl diver}, one who dives for pearl oysters.
   {Pearl edge}, an edge of small loops on the side of some
      kinds of ribbon; also, a narrow kind of thread edging to
      be sewed on lace.
   {Pearl eye}, cataract. [R.]
   {Pearl gray}, a very pale and delicate blue-gray color.
   {Pearl millet}, Egyptian millet ({Penicillaria spicata}).
   {Pearl moss}. See {Carrageen}.
   {Pearl moth} (Zo["o]l.), any moth of the genus {Margaritia};
      -- so called on account of its pearly color.
   {Pearl oyster} (Zo["o]l.), any one of several species of
      large tropical marine bivalve mollusks of the genus
      {Meleagrina}, or {Margaritifera}, found in the East Indies
      (especially at Ceylon), in the Persian Gulf, on the coast
      of Australia, and on the Pacific coast of America. Called
      also {pearl shell}, and {pearl mussel}.
   {Pearl powder}. See {Pearl white}, below.
   {Pearl sago}, sago in the form of small pearly grains.
   {Pearl sinter} (Min.), fiorite.
   {Pearl spar} (Min.), a crystallized variety of dolomite,
      having a pearly luster.
   {Pearl white}.
      (a) Basic bismuth nitrate, or bismuth subchloride; -- used
          chiefly as a cosmetic.
      (b) A variety of white lead blued with indigo or Berlin
          blue.
   

3. \Pearl\, a.
   Of or pertaining to pearl or pearls; made of pearls, or of
   mother-of-pearl.
   

4. \Pearl\, v. t.
   1. To set or adorn with pearls, or with mother-of-pearl. Used
      also figuratively.
   2. To cause to resemble pearls; to make into small round
      grains; as, to pearl barley.
   

5. \Pearl\, v. i.
   1. To resemble pearl or pearls.
   2. To give or hunt for pearls; as, to go pearling.
   

1. A language for constructive mathematics developed by Constable at Cornell University in the 1980s.

2. Process and Experiment Automation Real-Time Language.

3. One of five pedagogical languages based on Markov algorithms, used in "Nonpareil, a Machine Level Machine Independent Language for the Study of Semantics", B. Higman, ULICS Intl Report No ICSI 170, U London (1968). Compare Brilliant, Diamond, Nonpareil, Ruby.

4. A multilevel language developed by Brian Randell ca 1970 and mentioned in "Machine Oriented Higher Level Languages", W. van der Poel, N-H 1974.

5. An obsolete term for Larry Wall's PERL programming language, which never fell into common usage other than in typographical errors. The missing 'a' remains as an atrophied remnant in the expansion "Practical Extraction and Report Language".

["Programming Perl", Larry Wall and Randal L. Schwartz, O'Reilly & Associates, Inc. Sebastopol, CA. ISBN 0-93715-64-1].

(Heb. gabish, Job 28:18; Gr. margarites, Matt. 7:6; 13:46; Rev. 21:21). The pearl oyster is found in the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea. Its shell is the "mother of pearl," which is of great value for ornamental purposes (1 Tim. 2:9; Rev. 17:4). Each shell contains eight or ten pearls of various sizes.