puppy-snatch 
It Kera'd Indifferent to him 
Whether ho did or sink or iwlm ; 
so he by either means might catch 
Us Trojans In a Puppy-snatch. 
Cotton, Scarronldei, p. 10. 
purl, r. and i. See purr 1 . 
pur-t, purT a t > " A term of unknown meaning 
used in the game of post and pair. 
Some, having lost their double Pare and Post, 
Make their advantage on the Purrs they haue; 
Whereby the Winners winnings all are lost, 
Although, at best, the other 's but a knaue. 
fKr J. Danes, Wlttes Pilgrimage, quoted in Mnsque of 
[Christmas, by H. Jonson. 
Post and Pair, with a pair-royal of aces In his hat ; his 
garment all done over with pairs and pun. 
B. Jonson, Masque of Christmas. 
, a. and ode. A Middle English form of 
pure. 
Parana (p$-ra'na), . fSkt. purana, things of 
the past, tale of old times, prop, adj., past, 
former, ancient, < purd, formerly, before ; akin 
to E. fore: see/orA.] One of a class of sacred 
poetical writings in the Sanskrit tongue, which 
treat chiefly of the creation, destruction, and 
renovation of worlds, the genealogy and deeds 
of gods, heroes, and princes, the reigns of the 
Maiius, etc. 
The Ptiraruu, though comparatively modern, make up 
a body of doctrine mixed with mythology and tradition 
such as few nations can boast of. 
J. Fcrgusson, Hist. Indian Arch., p. 7. 
Puranic (p<?-ran'ik), o. [< Purana + -ic.] Per- 
taining to the Puranas. 
Pur beck beds. In geol. See bed 1 . 
Purbeck marble. A gray marble obtained from 
the upper Purbeck strata. See Purbeck beds, un- 
der feed 1 . It is made up chiefly of specimens of Paiu- 
dina. This marble has been worked for more than 700 
years, and used especially for slender shafts in medieval 
architecture, "but the introduction of foreign marbles 
has decreased the demand for It " (Woodward). 
purblind (per'blind), a. [Formerly also per- 
blind (simulating L. per, through, as if ' thor- 
oughly blind'), poreblind, poarcblind (simulat- 
ing pore 1 , as if ' so nearly blind that one must 
pore or read close'), poorblind (simulating 
poor.&s if 'having poor sight almost blind'); 
< ME. pttrblynde, pur blind, quite blind, later 
merely dim-sighted (tr. by L. luscus) ; orig. two 
words: pur, pure, adv., quite; blind, blind. 
The use of the adv. pure becoming obs. or dial., 
the meaning of pur- became obscure; hence 
the variations noted.] If. Quite blind; en- 
tirely blind. 
He saolde pultc oute bothe hys eye, and make hym pur- 
Nynd. Hob. of Gloucester, p. 376. 
A gouty Briareus, many hands and no use, or purblind 
Argus, all eyes and no sight. Shot., T. and ('., 1. 2. 81. 
2. Nearly blind; dim-sighted; seeing dimly or 
obscurely. 
Thy dignitie or anctoritie, wherein thou only diflereth 
from other, is (u it were) but a weyghty or heuy cloke, 
freshely glitteryng in the eyen of them that be poreblind. 
Sir T. Elyot, The Oovernour, II. 8. 
Pore-blind men see best in the dimmer lights, and like- 
wise have their sight stronger near hand than those that 
are not pore-Hind. Bacon, Works (cd. 1826X IV. 470. 
purblind race of miserable men I 
Tennyson, Geralnt. 
purblindly (per'blind-li), adv. In a purblind 
manner. 
purblindness (per'blind-nes), n. The state of 
being purblind ; shortness of sight ; near-sight- 
edness ; dimness of vision. 
The Professor's keen philosophic perspicacity 1s some- 
what marred by a certain mixture of almost owlish pur- 
blindness. CarlyU, Sartor Reaartus, ill. 1". 
purcatoryet, . A Middle English form of pur- 
gatory. 
purchasable (per'eha-sa-bl), a. [Also pur- 
chtucable; < purchase + -able.'} Capable of be- 
ing bought, purchased, or obtained for a con- 
sideration. 
Honey being the counterbalance to all things purchasr- 
niJi' by it. Locke, Lowering of Interest. 
purchase (per'chas), r. ; pret. and pp. pur- 
chased, ppr. purchasing. [< ME. purchasen, 
purchacen, purchrwn, porchacyen, < OP. por- 
rhacier, purchaser, porchacer, por chaser, pur- 
racer, etc., P. pourchatser (= Pr. percassar = 
It. procacciare), seek out, acquire, get, < }>ur- 
(< L. pro), forth, + chacier, chaser, chasser, 
pursue: see chase 1 .'] I. trans. 1. To gain, 
obtain, or acquire ; secure, procure, or obtain 
in any way other than by inheritance or by pay- 
ment of money or its equivalent; especially, to 
secure or obtain by effort, labor, risk, sacrifice, 
cto. : as, to purchase peace by concessions ; to 
purchase favor with flattery. 
4852 
The Monstre answerde him, and seyde he was a dedly 
Creature, suche asUod hadile formed, and duelled in tho 
Desertes, In purchasynye his Sustynance. 
Mandeville, Travels, p. 47. 
80 It Renyth In my Rememberaunce 
That dayly, nyghtly, tyde, tyme. and owre, 
Hit Is my will to purches youre fauoure. 
I'alitical Poems, etc. (ed. Furnivall), p. 43. 
By reproring faults they purchased unto themselves 
with the multitude a name to be virtuous. 
Hooker, Eccles. Polity, Pref., iii. 
Lest it make you choleric and purchase me another dry 
basting. Shak., C. of E., ii. 2. 63. 
I think I must be enforced to purchase me another page. 
D. Jonson, Cynthia's Revels, ii. 1. 
Would that my life could purchase thine ! 
Shelley, The Cencl, T. 1. 
2. To secure, procure, or obtain by expendi- 
ture of money or its equivalent; buy: as, to 
purchase provisions, lands, or houses. 
The field which Abraham purchased ot the sons of Heth. 
Uen. xxv. 10. 
'Twill purchase the whole bench of aldermanity. 
B. Jonson, Magnetick Lady, v. 5. 
The Pasha grants a licence to one person, generally a 
Jew, to buy all the senna, who is obliged to take all that 
is brought to Cairo, and no one else can purchase it. 
Pococke, Description of the East, I. 122. 
3f. To expiate or recompense by a fine or for- 
feit. 
I will be deaf to pleading and excuses, 
Nor tears nor prayers shall purchase out abuses. 
Shot., R, and J., ill. 1. 198. 
4. [< purchase, n., 10.] To apply a purchase 
to ; raise or move by mechanical power : as, to 
purchase an anchor. 5t. To steal. Imp. Diet. 
II. intrans. If. To put forth efforts to obtain 
anything; strive. 
Duke John of Brabant purchased greatly that the Earl 
of Flanders should have his daughter in marriage. 
Berners. 
2f. To bring something about; manage. 
On that other side this Claudas hath so purchased that 
he hath be at Rome, and he and the kynge of Oaule hum- 
take theire londes to the Emperoure be soche covenaunt 
that the Emperour lulius shall sende hym socour. 
Merlin (E. E. T. S.), ii. 303. 
3t. To acquire wealth. 
Were all of his mind, to entertain no suits 
But such they thought were honest, sure our lawyers 
Would not purchase half so fast. 
Webster, Devil's Law-Case, Iv. 1. 
4. Nawt. , to draw in the cable : as, the capstan 
purchases apace. 
purchase (per'chas), n. [Early mod. E. also 
purchas ; < ME. purchase, purchas, porch/is, < 
OF. porchax, purchase; from the verb.] 1. 
Acquisition; the obtaining or procuring of 
something by effort, labor, sacrifice, work, con- 
quest, art, etc., or by the payment of money or 
its equivalent ; procurement ; acquirement. 
And sent yow here a stede of his purchase ; 
Of kyng Ruben he wanne hym for certayn. 
denerydes (E. E. T. 8.), L 2812. 
Ray I should marry her, she'll get more money 
Than all my usury, put my knavery to It: 
She appears the most Infallible way of purchase. 
Fletcher, Rule a Wife, HI. 6. 
For on his backe a heavy load he bare. 
Of nightly stelths, and pillage severall, 
Which he had got abroad by purchas criminal!. 
Spenser, F. Q., I. Iii. 16. 
I glory 
More in the cunning purchase of my wealth 
Than in the glad possession. 
B. Jonson, Volpone, 1. 1. 
2. That which is acquired or obtained other- 
wise than by inheritance ; gain ; acquisitions : 
winnings; specifically, that which is obtained 
by the payment of money or its equivalent. 
& he gan of her porchas largeliche horn hede. 
Rob. of Gloucester, p. 34. 
A beauty-waning and distressed widow, . . . 
Hade prize and purchase of his lustful eye. 
Shak., Rich. III., Hi. 7. 187. 
Our lives are almost expired before we become estated 
In uur purchases. Jer. Taylor, Works (ed. 1835), I. 861. 
3f. Prey; booty; plunder; hence, ill-gotten 
gain or wealth. 
That has fray'd many a tall thief from a rich purchase! 
Middlfton (and others). Widow, III. 1. 
Rod. Who are out now ? 
Fourth Out. Good fellows, sir, that, If there be any pur- 
chase stirring, 
Will strike It dead. Fletcher, Pilgrim, II. 2. 
Do you two pack up all the goods and purchase 
That we can carry In the two trunks. 
B. Jonson, Alchemist, Iv. 4. 
Tailors In France they grow to great 
Abominable purchase, and become great officers. 
Webster, Devils Law-Case, II. 1. 
4f. Means of acquisition or ^:iin : occupation. 
Thou hast no land ; 
Stealing 's thy only purchase. 
Fletcher and Shirley, Night- Walker, I. 1. 
purchaser 
6. In late: (a) The act of obtaining or acquir- 
ing an estate in lands, etc., in any manner other 
than by inheritance or escheat. (6) Tho ac- 
quisition of property by contract, (c) Tho 
acquisition of property by contract for a valua- 
ble consideration, (rf) The suing out and ob- 
taining of a writ. 6. Value; advantage; worth: 
as, to buy an estate at twenty years' purchase 
(that is, at a price equal to twenty times its 
annual value, or the total return from it for 
twenty years). 
A monarch might receive from her, not give, 
Though she were his crown's purchase. 
Fletcher, Beggars' Bush, v. 2. 
Some fall in love with . . . popular fame and applause, 
supposing they are things of great purchase ; when in many 
cases they are but matters of envy, peril, and impediment. 
Bacon, Advancement of Learning, U. 344. 
One report affirmed that Moore dared not come to York- 
shire ; he knew that his life was not worth an hour's pur- 
chase U he did. Charlotte BrviUr, Shirley, xxx. 
7f. Attempt; endeavor. 
Ill sit down by thee, 
And, when thou wak'st, either get meat to save thee, 
Or lose my life i' the purchase. Fletcher, Bonduca, v. 8. 
8f. Course; way; departure. 
For whan she died that was my malstresse, 
Alle my weelfare made than the same purchas. 
Political Poems, etc. (ed. Furnlvall), p. M. 
9. The acquisition of position, promotion, etc., 
by the payment of money. See purchase sys- 
tem, below. 
lie abolished purchase In the army. 
N. A. Kee.,CS.LII. 690. 
10. Finn or advantageous hold by which 
power may be exerted; specifically, any me- 
chanical power, force, or contrivance which 
may be advantageously used in moving, rais- 
ing, or removing heavy bodies; in nautical 
use, a tackle of any kind for multiplying 
power. 
The head of an ox or a horse is a heavy weight acting at 
the end of a long lever (consequently with a great purchase), 
and in a direction nearly perpendicular to the joints of the 
supporting neck. J'aley, Nat Theol. 
A politician, to do great things, looks for a power, what 
our workmen call a purchase ; and if he flnds that power 
in politicks as in mechnnlcks, he cannot be at a loss to ap- 
ply it. Burke, Rev. In France. 
The last screw of the rack having been turned so often 
that Its purchase crumbled, and it now turned and turned 
with nothing to bite. Dickens, Tale of Two Cities, II. 23. 
11. A knob or raised thumb-piece, allowing 
the hand which holds the handle to throw back 
the hinged cover of a tankard, beer-mug, or 
similar vessel Bell purchase (nni/(.),a kind of bur- 
ton, consisting of four single blocks and a fall, frequently 
used for topsail-halyards of small vessels in the united 
States: so called from the name of the inventor. Gads- 
den purchase, a territory purchased by the United States 
from Mexico In 1863 for (10,000,000, and Included In the 
southern part of New Mexico and Arizona: so called 
from James Gadsdcn, United States minister to Mexico, 
who negotiated the treaty. Griolet purchase, an ar- 
rangement of blocksand falls for mounting and dismount- 
ing heavy guns on the deck of a man-of-war. Gun- tackle 
purchase. See gun-tackle, -.'.Louisiana purchase, 
the territory which the United States in 1803, under Jeffer- 
son's administration, acquired by purchase from France, 
then under the government of Bonaparte as first consul. 
The price was tl 6^000,000. The purchase consisted of New 
Orleans and a vast tract extending westward from the 
Mississippi river to the Rocky Mountains, and from the 
Gulf of Mexico to British America. The United States 
claimed West Florida and the extreme northwest, Includ- 
ing Idaho, Oregon, and Washington as parts of the pur- 
chase ; but It appears that they were wrong in so doing. 
Texas, which was part of the purchase, was ceded to Spain 
In 181 by the treaty by which Florida was acquired. In 
1845 it again became a part of the United States. Peak- 
purchase. see peoJU. Purchase of Land Act. See 
(and i. Purchase system, the system under which 
commissions In the British army were formerly purchased. 
By this system nearly all the first appointments and a 
large proportion of the subsequent promotions of officers 
were effected. The regulation prices of commissions va- 
ried from 450 for an ensigncy to 7,260 for a lieutenant- 
colonelcy in the Life Guards, the highest commission pur- 
chasable. The system was abolished in 1871. -Rolling 
purchaset. Same as craneijuin, i. To raise a pur- 
chase. Seeratw 1 . 
purchaseable, " See pwrekatablt. 
purchase-block (ptr'chns-blok), . \<mi. Sec 
MtaP. 
purchase-fall (pcrVhas-f&l), . The rope rove 
through a purchase-block. 
purchase-money (per'ehfis-mun'i), n. The mon- 
ey paid or contracted to 'be paid for anything 
bought. 
Whether ten thousand pounds, well laid out, might not 
build a decent college, fit to contain two hundred persons ; 
and whether tlu- jnrrchasr-monry of the chambers would 
not go a good way towards defraying the expense? 
Up. Berkeley, Querist, 1 189. 
purchaser (per'cha-ser), . [< M H. /.wrc/i.' 
< OF. porchaceor, p<nirrhii*~<'in. one who ac- 
