PEARL | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary

Meaning of pearl in English

pearl
noun
uk
/pɜːl/ us
/pɝːl/
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[ C or U ]
a small, round object, usually white, that forms around a grain of sand inside the shell of a sea creature, especially an oyster. Pearls are valuable and are used to make jewellery:
a string of pearls
a pearl necklace
 
ToscaWhi/ iStock/Getty Images Plus/GettyImages
pearls [ plural ]
jewellery made from pearls:
He gave her pearls for her birthday.
You never saw her without her pearls - even on the beach!
Pearls are a safe bet for wearing with a little black dress.
She was dressed in a cashmere sweater and pearls.
She sat in front of the mirror and fastened her pearls around her neck.
 
Anna Petrova Ilieva-Alikaj/EyeEm/GettyImages
[ C ]
an artificially made pearl:
cultured pearls
[ C usually plural ]   food & drink   specialized
a very small ball of some types of food :
The pearls of rice are delicate and creamy.
Tapioca is a starchy substance from the cassava plant and comes in many forms, including pellets called pearls.
Pearls of caviar rolled nicely on the tongue.
[ C ] literary
a small drop of liquid:
There were pearls of dew on the grass.
[ U ]
the white shiny colour of pearl or a pale colour
[ U ]
→  mother-of-pearl :
pearl buttons
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Jewelry
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Idiom

a pearl of great price
pearl
verb [ I ]
uk/pɜːl/ us/pɝːl/
[ I ]
(of a liquid) to form small drops on a surface:
Sweat was pearling on her brow.
He quartered an orange with the knife and the juice on the blade pearled into droplets.
be pearled with sth
(of a surface) to have small drops of liquid form on it:
The heavy dish cover was pearled around the edge with glistening drops.
She saw one of Annie's thin white arms, pearled with water, shoot into the sky as the boat righted itself.
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Movement of liquids
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(Definition of pearl from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

pearl | American Dictionary

pearl
noun [ C ]
us
/ˈpɜrl/
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a small, shiny, hard ball, usually white or blue-gray, that forms around a grain of sand inside some oyster shells and is valued as a jewel:
a string of pearls
(Definition of pearl from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of pearl

pearl
However, the necklace is on somebody's neck, so you cannot reverse the order of the pearls.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
All pearls are refereed (including my own), and there is often a fair amount of polishing as a result of the reviewing stage.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Authors like writing pearls perhaps because they like responding to the opportunities and challenges provided by the format.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Worshippers likewise adorn themselves with strings of these pearls during the days of the rites, adding a special lustre to the crowd.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
In the following pages you will find no less than three pearls for your enjoyment and instruction.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
If fortunate, the shell would contain pearls; if not, it would brim with something far less desirable.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
The second kind of pearls have a totally different origin.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
The remains of the larva have been identified in the centre of sections of decalcified pearls.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
The bibliographies of all included studies were manually searched for relevant references that may have been missed in the database search (pearling).
From the Cambridge English Corpus
We expect to have pearls appear in subsequent issues of the journal.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
The pearls are from all over the world, selected for the finest quality, smoothness and lustre.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
In the text, all problems are evidently n- concretely dressed, dealing with elephants, peacocks, swans, pearls, etc.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
As a result of these waves, fixed sporocysts had the appearance of strings of misshapen natural pearls.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
In 1640 the council reprimanded serving-girls who had been wearing items reserved for the children of distinguished parents, such as pearls and decorated shoes.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
You are holding a necklace in your hands, composed of no fewer than thirteen exquisite pearls.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
See all examples of pearl
These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

Collocations with pearl

pearl

These are words often used in combination with pearl.

Click on a collocation to see more examples of it.

black pearl
Hence, we propose the technique as a black pearl.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
freshwater pearl
Additional scientific and survey work is currently in progress to identify suitable sites for the otter, great crested newt, freshwater pearl mussel and fen moss.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0
pearl earrings
Mama has also invariably worn a few fashion accessories: a white pearl necklace and white pearl earrings.
From
Wikipedia
This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.
These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.
See all collocations with pearl
What is the pronunciation of pearl?
 
A1

Translations of pearl

in Chinese (Traditional)
珍珠, 人造珍珠, 液態珠狀物…
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in Chinese (Simplified)
珍珠, 人造珍珠, 液态珠状物…
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in Spanish
perla, gota, nácar…
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in Portuguese
pérola, pérola [feminine]…
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in more languages
in Japanese
in Turkish
in French
in Catalan
in Dutch
in Danish
in Swedish
in Malay
in German
in Norwegian
in Ukrainian
in Russian
in Arabic
in Czech
in Indonesian
in Thai
in Vietnamese
in Polish
in Korean
in Italian
真珠, パール, 真珠（しんじゅ）…
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inci…
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perle [feminine], (de) perle (s)…
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perla…
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parel…
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perle, perle-…
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pärla…
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mutiara…
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die Perle, Perlen-……
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perle [masculine], perle…
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перлина…
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жемчуг…
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لؤْلؤْ…
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perla, perlový…
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mutiara…
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ไข่มุก…
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ngọc trai…
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perła…
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진주…
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perla, di perle…
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