point
1. point \'po.int\ n [ME, partly fr. OF, puncture, small spot, point in
time or space, fr. L punc]tum, fr. neut. of punctus, pp. of pungere to
prick; partly fr. OF pointe sharp end, fr. (assumed) VL puncta fr. L, fem.
of punctus, pp. - more at PUNGENT 1a1: an individual detail : ITEM 1a2: a
distinguishing detail 1b: the most important essential in a discussion or
matter {~ of th e joke} 1c: COGENCY obs 2: physical condition 3: an end
or object to be achieved : PURPOSE 4a1: an undefined geometric element of
which it is postulated that at least two exist and that two suffice to
determine a line 4a2: a geometric element determined by an ordered set of
coordinates 4b1: a narrowly localized place having a precisely indicated
position 4b2: a particular place : LOCALITY 4c1: an exact moment 4c2: a
time interval immediately before something indicated : VER GEM {at the ~ of
death} 4d1: a particular step, stage, or degree in development 4d2: a
definite position in a scale {boiling ~} 5a: the terminal usu. sharp or
narrowly rounded part of something : TI P 5b: a weapon or tool having such
a part and used for stabbing or piercing 5c1: the contact or discharge
extremity of an electric device (as a spark p lug or contact break) chiefly
Brit 5c2: an electric outlet 6a: a projecting usu. tapering piece of land
or a sharp prominence 6b1: the tip of a projecting body part pl 6b2:
terminal bodily projections esp. when differing from the rest of the b ody
in color 6c1: a railroad switch 6c2: the tip of the angle between two
rails in a railroad frog 6d: the head of the bow of a stringed instrument
7: a short musical phrase; esp : a phrase in contrapuntal music 8a: a very
small mark 8b1: a punctuation mark; esp : PERIOD 8b2: DECIMAL POINT 8c:
a note in medieval music 9: a lace for tying parts of a garment together
used esp. in the 16th and 1 7th centuries 10: one of the nine divisions of
a heraldic shield or escutcheon that deter mine the position of a charge
11a: one of the 32 equidistant spots of a compass card 11b: the difference
of 111/4 degrees between two such successiv e points 12: a small detachment
ahead of an advance guard or behind a rear guard 13a: NEEDLEPOINT 13b:
lace made with a bobbin 14: one of 12 spaces marked off on each side of a
backgammon board 15: a unit of measurement : as 15a1: a unit of counting
in the scoring of a game or contest 15a2: a unit used in evaluating the
strength of a bridge hand 15b: a unit of academic credit 15c: a unit used
in quoting prices of stocks, shares, and various commoditi es 15d: a unit
of about 1/72 inch used to measure the belly-to-bac k dimension of printing
type 16: the action of pointing : as 16a: the rigidly intent attitude of a
hunting dog marking game for a gunner 16b: the action in dancing of
extending one leg so that only the tips of th e toes touch the floor 16c: a
thrust or lunge in fencing 17: a position of a player in various games (as
lacrosse); also : t he player of such a position : RELEVANT, PERTINENT -
to the point
2. point vt 1a: to furnish with a point 1b: to give added force, emphasis,
or piquancy to {~ up a remark> 2: to scratch out the old mortar from the
joints of (as a brick wall) and fill in with new material 3a1: to mark the
pauses or grammatical divisions in : PUNCTUATE 3a2: to separate (a decimal
fraction) from an integer by a decimal point -m usu. used with off 3b: to
mark (as Hebrew words) 4a1: to indicate the position or direction of esp.
by extending a finger <(~ out a house} 4a2: to direct someone's attention
to {~ out a mistake} of a hunting dog 4b: to indicate the presence and
place of (game) by a point 5a: to cause to be turned in a particular
direction {~ a gun} 5b: to extend (a leg) in executing a point in dancing
1a: to indicate the fact or probability of something specified {everythi ng
~s to a bright future} 1b: to indicate the position or direction of
something esp. by extending a finger {~ at the map} 1c: to point game 2a:
to lie extended, aimed, or turned in a particular direction 2b: to execute
a point in dancing of a ship 3: to sail close to the wind 4: to train
for a particular contest
Webster's English Dictionary