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\ ˈpər 
\
\Definition of purr
(Entry 1 of 2)
: a low vibratory murmur typical of an apparently contented or pleased cat
purr
verbpurred; purring; purrs
Definition of purr (Entry 2 of 2)
1 : to make a purr or a sound like a purr
cars purring along the highway
2a : to speak in a manner that resembles a purr
b : to speak in a malicious catty manner
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Other Words from purr
Verb
purringly \ ˈpər-iŋ-lē \ adverb
\ adverb
Examples of purr in a Sentence
Noun
the soft purr of a car engine
listened to the reassuring purr of the car engine Verb
The cat was purring contentedly in my lap.
The cars were purring along the highway.
“You look tense. Let me buy you a drink,” he purred.
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Recent Examples on the Web: Noun With six rings of simultaneous judging cat lovers will learn what makes some felines the purr-fect best of breed and others just a household pet.
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Elaine Rewolinski, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Halloween Nature Hike, House of Shadows, and more to do around Wisconsin this week," 28 Oct. 2019 Paul International Airport has a new member whose job is purr-fect for calming stress.
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Deanna Weniger, Twin Cities, "Meet ‘Stitches’: MSP airport has a comfort cat now," 9 Nov. 2019 Hit the red ignition button and the engine fires with a deep growl and then settles into a rumbling purr.
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San Diego Union-Tribune, "550-hp Jaguar F-Pace SVR: all claws, fangs and growl in a velvet coat," 15 Sep. 2019 Even little things like hugging a dog or hearing a cat purr can make a big difference for someone who needs to experience the unconditional love of pets.
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Texas A&m University, Houston Chronicle, "PET TALK: Enjoying the magic of pet therapy," 1 Aug. 2019 Keaton looked extraordinarily cool tooling around in his Batmobile and tackling (but never getting overshadowed by) Jack Nicholson’s kooky Joker and Michelle Pfeiffer's purr-fect Catwoman.
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Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, "'Batman' turns 30: All of the big-screen Batmen, definitively ranked," 23 June 2019 Yes, this is all hiss-terical, but Yousafzai’s party may have just come up with the purr-fect solution to better attract young people to politics: use filters when streaming events live on Facebook.
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Alex Ward, Vox, "Cat-astrophe: Pakistani politician’s event streamed on Facebook with cat filter on," 17 June 2019 But in the sublime, time-stopping Poco adagio, the gentle purr of the organ beneath the orchestra sounds one-dimensional.
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Barbara Jepson, WSJ, "Uncertain Tempo," 31 Dec. 2018 Here's hoping that this special friend finds the purr-fect family.
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Lauren Rearick, Teen Vogue, "Facebook Has Fallen in Love With Bruno the “High Maintenance" Cat," 17 Aug. 2018 Recent Examples on the Web: Verb The Overture purred like a high-performance engine, humming along smoothly and kicking in and out of toothier gears instantaneously.
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Zachary Lewis, cleveland, "Cleveland Orchestra, Sachs delight with slate of untroubled Classical standards," 22 Nov. 2019 Much like Barrett, New Zealand sputtered for a while then started purring, and put Namibia’s amateurs in their place in the Rugby World Cup by a 71-9 scoreline on Sunday.
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San Diego Union-Tribune, "Stand-in flyhalf Barrett leads All Blacks’ rout of Namibia," 6 Oct. 2019 There’s no significant musical dialogue between Sheeran’s aspirant soft-pop mewls and Young Thug’s yelps, or Cardi B’s rasps, or Ella Mai’s purrs.
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Chris Richards, Washington Post, "This new Ed Sheeran album sounds like a hostage situation," 16 July 2019 His style and approach are most definitely Brazilian, and the addition of a winger in that mould could get supporters purring.
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SI.com, "Arsenal Targets: Comparing the Gunners' Rumoured Forward Options This Summer," 7 July 2019 But Chidi doesn’t let her limitations hold her back, according to Mikkola, who said the cat runs, plays, climbs, purrs and cuddles.
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Kathleen Christiansen, orlandosentinel.com, "Featured Pet: Chidi from Candy’s Cats," 27 Aug. 2019 First, capture a video of your sleepy kitten purring, or snap a shot of your crazy cat doing aerial stunts.
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Kelly O'sullivan, Country Living, "36 Best Cat Instagram Captions for Every Photo of Your Feline Friend," 19 July 2019 Then there’s just that light purring-kitten sound, when the machine gets activated, that’s very sensory.
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Rachel King, Fortune, "Queer Eye’s Antoni Porowski on Netflix, Social Media, and Opening a Restaurant," 30 June 2019 Kitties can easily reduce your levels of stress—especially for women above 50 years old—and the comforting rhythmic sound of their purring actually has healing powers.
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Elizabeth Gulino, House Beautiful, "According to Research, Being a Cat Lady is Actually Good For You," 15 May 2019
See MoreThese example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'purr.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for purr
purr
nounEnglish Language Learners Definition of purr
(Entry 1 of 2)
: the low, soft sound that a cat makes when it is happy
: a sound that is like the purr of a cat
purr
verbEnglish Language Learners Definition of purr (Entry 2 of 2)
: to make a purr or a sound like a purr
: to say (something) in a soft, low voice especially when you are pleased or trying to persuade someone to do something
See the full definition for purr in the English Language Learners Dictionary
purr
verb\ ˈpər \
\purred; purring
Kids Definition of purr
(Entry 1 of 2)
: to make the low murmuring sound of a contented cat or a similar sound
purr
nounKids Definition of purr (Entry 2 of 2)
: the low murmuring sound of a contented cat or a similar sound
the purr of the engine
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Time Traveler for purr
The first known use of purr was circa 1616
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