- [countable] a small hard shiny white ball that forms inside the shell of an oyster and is of great value as a jewel see also seed pearlTopics Clothes and Fashionc1
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- [countable] a copy of a pearl that is made artificially
- (also mother-of-pearl)[uncountable] the hard smooth shiny substance in various colours that forms a layer inside the shells of some types of shellfish and is used in making buttons and for decoration
- pearl buttons
- [countable, usually singular] a thing that looks like a pearl in shape or colour
- pearls of dew on the grass
- [countable] a thing that is very highly valued
- She is a pearl among women.
- The ski resort is known as the Pearl of the Alps.
Word Originlate Middle English: from Old French perle, perhaps based on Latin perna ‘leg’, extended to denote a leg-of-mutton-shaped bivalve.
Idioms
See pearl in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionarycast, throw, etc. pearls before swine
- to give or offer valuable things to people who do not understand their value
a pearl of wisdom
- (usually ironic) a wise remark
- Thank you for those pearls of wisdom.
Extra Examples- students eager to catch pearls of wisdom from the professor's lips
- They would treat these pearls of wisdom with some scepticism.
- His journals are full of dubious pearls of homespun wisdom.
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pearl