purple

1. (US politics) Not predominantly red or blue, but having a mixture of Democrat and Republican support.Examples: "purple state"; "purple city"; "In the end, Nevada remained the quintessential purple state. On the maps that television used to illustrate political trends, Republican states were red and Democratic blue. Nevada blended the colors. It had a bright blue core in the heart of Las Vegas, surrounded by a purple suburban belt. Most of the rest of the state was bright red, especially in the rural counties."US

2. (in Netherlands and Belgium) Mixed between social democrats and liberals.

3. (of language) Extravagantly ornate, like purple prose.Examples: "Near-synonyms: flowery, overwrought"; "A writer who has made a career of churning out thick novels may be expected to write too quickly to notice that patches of her writing are unbearably purple."

4. (motor racing, of a sector, lap, etc.) Completed in the fastest time so far in a given session.usually

1. (intransitive) To turn purple in colour.Examples: "[T]he Capri cliffs, the tops of which were still pink against the purpling sky."; "The gang leader purpled and raised his gun."intransitive

2. (transitive) To dye purple.Examples: "Year after year unto her feet, / She lying on her couch alone, / Across the purpled coverlet, / The maiden's jet-black hair has grown, […]"transitive

3. (transitive) To clothe in purple.transitive

4. (intransitive, US slang) To pursue the opposite gender in inappropriate circumstances, usually of adolescents. (From the metaphor of mixing blue [boys] and pink [girls].)USintransitiveslang

1. (rare) A surname from Middle English.rare