▪ I. purr, n.1
(pɜː(r))
Also 7 purre, 7–9 pur.
[Cognate with purr v.]
An act of purring; the soft murmuring sound made by a cat or other animal when pleased; also, any similar sound.
| 1601 Shakes. All's Well v. ii. 20 Heere is a purre of Fortunes sir, or of Fortunes Cat. 1801 Wolcott (P. Pindar) Tears & Smiles Wks. 1812 V. 70 The Cat amid the ashes purr'd, For purs to cats belong. 1849 Sk. Nat. Hist., Mammalia IV. 146 [The] voice [of the acouchi] is a short, rather sharp, plaintive pur. 1872 Darwin Emotions v. 129 The purr of satisfaction, which is made during both inspiration and expiration. 1898 Daily News 3 May 8/5 The heavier boom of the guns, and the cloth-tearing purr of the Maxims. 1971 G. Ewart Gavin Ewart Show i. 12 At the lawn⁓mower's purr I stop for a moment. 1974 R. Rendell Face of Trespass xviii. 168 The powerful purr of a Jaguar sports. |
▪ II. † purr, n.2 Obs.
(pɜː(r))
[Origin unascertained.]
A small edible bivalve, Tapes decussata; also called pullet. Also applied to allied species.
| c 1711 Petiver Gazophyl. viii. lxxiii, Marbled Smyrna Purr... A beautiful Bivalve finely latticed and marbled. 1776 Da Costa Conchol. 275 Chamæ, Purrs, or Gapers. |
▪ III. † purr, n.3
[Manx purr wild mountain boar (J. Kelly).]
Name of a breed of wild pigs formerly found in the Isle of Man.
| 1861 Wilson & Geikie Mem. E. Forbes i. 30 The purrs, an odd-looking race of pigs, which are also dying out. 1890 A. W. Moore Surnames, etc. Isle of Man 193 A curious breed of wild pigs, called purrs, which is now extinct. |
▪ IV. purr, purre, ? a. Obs. or dial.
[Of uncertain origin.]
In purre (also 6 pour, 9 poor) oats, wild oats; so purr barley: see quots.
| 1578 Lyte Dodoens iv. xiii. 467 Also there is a barren Ote, of some called the purre Otes, of others wilde Otes. Ibid., The Purwottes or wilde Otes. Ibid. xvi. 470 Pour Otes or wilde Otes, are in leaues and knottie strawes like vnto common Otes. 1847 Halliw., Purr-barley, wild barley. 1888 Elworthy W. Som. Gloss., Poor oats, wild oats. Avena fatua. |
▪ V. purr, v.
(pɜː(r))
Also 7–9 pur.
[Echoic.]
1. a. intr. Of a cat or (occasionally) other feline beasts: To make a low continuous vibratory sound expressive of satisfaction or pleasure.
| 1620 Shelton Quix. ii. xlvi. 304 But the Cat, careless of these threats, purred, and held fast. 1769 G. White Selborne xxii. (1789) 62 That its [goat-sucker's] notes are formed.. by the powers of the parts of its wind-pipe, formed for sound, just as cats pur. 1789 Mrs. Piozzi Journ. France, etc. II. 231 An English lady once made me observe, that a cat never purs when she is alone. 1872 Darwin Emotions v. 129 The puma, cheetah, and ocelot likewise purr: it is said that the lion, jaguar, and leopard do not purr. |
b. Said of other than feline animals.
| 1849 D. J. Browne Amer. Poultry Yd. (1855) 148 The young hens pur and leap. 1854 Badham Halieut. 172 How these fish manage to purr in the deep, and by means of what organ they communicate the sound to the external air, is wholly unknown. 1899 G. A. B. Dewar in Longm. Mag. Dec. 155 A night-jar is still ‘purring’, as Tom Hughes expressed it, from a belt of trees. |
2. transf. a. Of persons: To show satisfaction by low murmuring sounds, or by one's behaviour or attitude; also, to talk on in a quiet self-satisfied way.
| 1668 Dryden Even. Love ii. i, We love to get our mistresses, and purr over them. 1789 Wolcott (P. Pindar) Subj. Paint. Wks. 1812 II. 204 The Doctor Who purring for preferment, slily mouses. 1858 O. W. Holmes Aut. Breakf.-t. iii. 19, I never saw an author..that did not purr as audibly as a full-grown domestic cat..on having his fur smoothed in the right way by a skilful hand. 1889 T. A. Trollope What I remember III. xxiii. 337 His audience purred with sympathetic tenderness. |
b. Of things: To make a sound suggestive of the purring of a cat, as that caused by rapid vibrations, the boiling or bubbling of a liquid, a mechanical device, etc.
| 1657 R. Ligon Barbadoes 61 The huming Bird..never sitting, but purring with her wings, all the time she staies with the flower. 1747 Hervey Medit. II. 51 He..blesses his good Fortune, if no frightful Sound purred at his Heels. 1852 Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xiii, Mary placed it [the kettle] over the stove, where it was soon purring and steaming. 1885 Howells Silas Lapham xvi. 304 The soft-coal fire in the grate purred and flickered. [1916 G. B. Shaw Androcles & Lion ii. 42 The lion..purrs like a motor car.] 1922 Joyce Ulysses 507 His lawn⁓mower begins to purr. 1962 L. Deighton Ipcress File xxx. 190 Jay's Rolls purred along the Cromwell Road. 1974 P. Wright Lang. Brit. Industry i. 16 Their engines purr or tick over sweetly. 1978 Times 3 Apr. 12/3 The white Cadillac purred to a halt. |
3. trans. To utter or express by purring.
| 1740 Mary Granville Autobiog. (1861) II. 117 Jenny Tic purred out what consolation she could. a 1771 Gray Death Favourite Cat ii, She [the cat] saw; and purr'd applause. 1897 Rhoscomyl White Rose Arno 70 ‘You said he was not to be murdered’, purred Chapel. |
▪ VI. purr, v.2
var. porr v. dial., to thrust, prod, etc.
▪ VII. purr, int.
Also 6 pyr, purre, 9 dial. pur.
A call to pigs, and to turkeys.
| 1549 Latimer 3rd Serm. bef. Edw. VI (Arb.) 98 They say in my contrye, when they cal theyr hogges to the swyne troughe. Come to thy myngle mangle, come pyr, come pyr. 1560 T. Becon Displ. Popish Mass Wks. (1560) iii. 50 Ye tarry for no man; but, having a boye to help you say Masse, ye go to your myngle mangle, and never call purre to you. 1599 Nashe Lenten Stuffe Wks. (Grosart) V. 289 Some discourses of mine, which were a mingle mangle cum purre, and I knew not what to make of my selfe. 1879 G. F. Jackson Shropsh. Word-bk., Call-words to poultry,..Turkeys,..pur, pur, pur. |
▪ VIII. purr
var. porr n. (a thrust, etc.), purre1, purre2.