ˈpearl-grass
[f. pearl n.1 + grass.]
1. The large quaking-grass, Briza maxima. [From the shape and aspect of its spicules.]
| 1633 Johnson Gerarde's Herbal i. lxiv. 87 In English they call it Pearle-Grass, and Garden-Quakers. 1640 Parkinson Theat. Bot. xiii. xvi. 1166 The greatest white Spanish Quakers, or Pearle grasse. |
2. = pearl n.1 8 b. Also pirl-grass.
| 1794 Statist. Acc. Scot. XI. 374 Over-run with the creeping wheat-grass, known by the vulgar name of felt, or pirl-grass. |