purler
English edit
Etymology 1 edit
From purl (“a fall”).
Noun edit
purler (plural purlers)
- (UK, colloquial) A headlong fall or tumble.
- He came a purler on the icy path.
- 1869, “Stonehenge” (editor), The Coursing Calendar for the Autumn Season 1868, Containing Returns of All the Public Courses Run in Great Britain snd Ireland, page 172,
- Dilston and Savernake: the latter led, and turned, but in trying to kill came down a purler, which completely knocked all the go out of him; Dilston took possession of the hare, and kept it, winning the course in hollow style.
- 1954, British Broadcasting Corporation, The Listener, volume 51, page 67:
- Her French-speaking table in the dining-room is a riot of second-rate behaviour and dexterously aimed bread-pellets; the stairs outside her bedroom are relentlessly buttered and she comes purler after purler.
- 1986, Judith Saxton (Katie Flynn), Family Feeling, 2012, unnumbered page,
- Yet he was very sure that he had tripped and gone a purler just as he was leaving the Other Place . . . had that made him gash his forehead, once he was back in the pit?
- 2003, Susan Hill, The Boy Who Taught The Beekeeper To Read: The Boy Who Taught The Beekeeper To Read: And Other Stories, published 2011, unnumbered page:
- ‘You could hold the ladder,’ Mart said, ‘see I don′t come a purler.’
- (UK, colloquial) A knockdown blow; a blow that causes a person to fall headlong.
- 1867, Ouida [pseudonym; Maria Louise Ramé], “The End of a Ringing Run”, in Under Two Flags: A Story of the Household and the Desert. […], volume I, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, page 119:
- [The horse] falling with a mighty crash, gave him a purler on the opposite side, and was within an ace of striking him dead with his hoof in frantic struggles to recover.
Synonyms edit
- (headlong fall or tumble):
- (incapacitating blow): king hit (Australian)
See also edit
Etymology 2 edit
Uncertain.
Alternative forms edit
Pronunciation edit
Audio (AU) (file)
Noun edit
purler (plural purlers)
- (Australia, colloquial) Something extremely good.
- 2000 May 12, peter.ryan, “Top3 best games of all time”, in aus.sport.aussie-rules (Usenet):
- The greatest game ever played is the one marketed with that tag by Australian Football Video: the 1989 round 6 match at Prince's Park between Hawthorn and Geelong, an awesome display of the skills of the game. It is doubtful whether two such great sides had ever graced a single season as the Hawks and the Cats did in 1989. The return match in September was a bit of a purler too, as I recall.
- 2008 December 24, George W, “Best way to transport wreck Syd-Tsv.”, in aus.motorcycles (Usenet):
- And just when I had a slight thought that there could be a "Lets be nice to George Week"
And you come along with that purler.