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pearl

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A pearl is defined as a smooth round gem formed in the shell of an oyster or mollusk, or a fine example of something.

Facts About Pearls

Natural pearls are formed in the oyster’s stomach when an external irritant, such as a grain or sand, finds its way inside the shell. To protect itself, the oyster releases nacre, which is actually the same substance that forms the inside of the shell.
Cultured pearls are produced the same way as natural pearls however a pearl farmer would open the shell of the oyster, cut a slit in its mantle to insert an irritant such as a grain of sand. The oyster will then go on an produce layers of nacre around the grain of sand, forming a pearl.
As layers and layers of nacre are secreted, the irritant becomes enveloped inside a smooth material. Over time, all these layers will accumulate –like forming a snowball - and eventually they will create a round, shiny pearl.

A pearl can be white, black, pink, blue, green, red, and black. Black pearls are extremely rare and are only found in the South Pacific.

It usually takes an average of three years for pearls to achieve their maximum size.
The majority of the pearls in the market today come from: The Philippines, Japan, Myanmar, Indonesia, Australia, Tahiti, China and India.
Natural and cultured pearls can be harvested from both fresh and saltwater. Saltwater pears are considered higher in quality since most freshwater pearls have lumpier construction and shapes.

(noun)

A white bead that is made into a necklace is an example of a pearl.
Your best advice is an example of a pearl of wisdom.

The definition of pearl is to form bead-like drops, or to make something look bluish-gray like the gemstone formed in the shell of an oyster.

(verb)

When raindrops form little beads on the window, this is an example of when they pearl on the window.
When the sky is bluish-gray, this is an example of when the sky pearls.

See pearl in Webster's New World College Dictionary

noun

a smooth, hard, usually white or bluish-gray body of varied but usually roundish shape that is an abnormal nacreous growth within the shell of some oysters and certain other bivalve mollusks and forms around a grain of sand, a parasite, or some other foreign object: it is used as a gem
mother-of-pearl
any person or thing regarded as like a pearl in some way, as in size, shape, color, beauty, value, etc.
the color of some pearls, a bluish gray

Origin: ME perle < MFr < VL *perla, *perula, altered (? after L sphaerula, spherule) < L perna, a sea mussel, lit., a ham: from the shape of its peduncle

transitive verb

to adorn or cover with pearls or pearl-like drops
to make like a pearl in shape

intransitive verb

to fish for pearl-bearing mollusks, esp. oysters

adjective

of or having pearls
like a pearl in shape or color
made of mother-of-pearl: pearl buttons

Related Forms:

pearler noun

transitive verb, intransitive verb, noun

Obsolete purl

noun

a feminine name

Origin: < pearl

Origin: named for pearls found there
river in central Miss., flowing south into the Gulf of Mexico: 490 mi (789 km)
Zhu

See pearl in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun

A smooth, lustrous, variously colored deposit, chiefly calcium carbonate, formed around a grain of sand or other foreign matter in the shells of certain mollusks and valued as a gem.
Mother-of-pearl; nacre.
One that is highly regarded for its beauty or value.
Printing A type size measuring approximately five points.
A yellowish white.

verb pearled, pearl·ing, pearls

verb, transitive