Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - pure

(purer, purest) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. A pure substance is not mixed with anything else. ...a carton of pure orange juice. ADJ: usu ADJ n 2. Something that is pure is clean and does not contain any harmful substances. In remote regions, the air is pure and the crops are free of poisonous insecticides. ...demands for purer and cleaner river water. ADJ • purity They worried about the purity of tap water. N-UNCOUNT: with poss 3. If you describe something such as a colour, a sound, or a type of light as pure, you mean that it is very clear and represents a perfect example of its type. ...flowers in a whole range of blues with the occasional pure white. ADJ: usu ADJ n • purity The soaring purity of her voice conjured up the frozen bleakness of the Far North. N-UNCOUNT 4. If you describe a form of art or a philosophy as pure, you mean that it is produced or practised according to a standard or form that is expected of it. (FORMAL) Nicholson never swerved from his aim of making pure and simple art. ADJ: usu ADJ n • purity ...verse of great purity, sonority of rhythm, and symphonic form. N-UNCOUNT 5. Pure science or pure research is concerned only with theory and not with how this theory can be used in practical ways. Physics isn’t just about pure science with no immediate applications... ? applied ADJ: ADJ n 6. Pure means complete and total. The old man turned to give her a look of pure surprise... = sheer ADJ c darkgreen]emphasis