What does point mean?

What does point mean?. The world's largest and most trusted free online dictionary: definitions, synonyms, word origins, example sentences, word games, and more.

What does point mean? - The Free Dictionary

Search

[n] a geometric element that has position but no extension(a point is defined by its coordinates)[v] indicate a place, direction, person, or thing; either spatially or figuratively(I showed the customer the glove section He pointed to the empty parking space he indicated his opponents)[n]

point

point - The Free Dictionary

[n] a geometric element that has position but no extension
(a point is defined by its coordinates)

[v] indicate a place, direction, person, or thing; either spatially or figuratively
(I showed the customer the glove section He pointed to the empty parking space he indicated his opponents)

[n] the precise location of something; a spatially limited location
(she walked to a point where she could survey the whole street)

[v] be oriented
(The weather vane points North the dancers toes pointed outward)

[n] a brief version of the essential meaning of something
(get to the point he missed the point of the joke life has lost its point)

[v] direct into a position for use
(point a gun He charged his weapon at me)

[n] an isolated fact that is considered separately from the whole
(several of the details are similar a point of information)

[v] direct the course; determine the direction of travelling

[n] a specific identifiable position in a continuum or series or especially in a process
(a remarkable degree of frankness at what stage are the social sciences?)

[v] be a signal for or a symptom of
(These symptoms indicate a serious illness Her behavior points to a severe neurosis The economic indicators signal that the euro is undervalued)

[n] an instant of time
(at that point I had to leave)

[v] sail close to the wind

[n] the object of an activity
(what is the point of discussing it?)

[v] mark (Hebrew words) with diacritics

[n] a V shape
(the cannibal's teeth were filed to sharp points)

[v] mark with diacritics
(point the letter)

[n] a very small circular shape
(a row of points draw lines between the dots)

[v] mark (a psalm text) to indicate the points at which the music changes

[n] the unit of counting in scoring a game or contest
(he scored 20 points in the first half a touchdown counts 6 points)

[v] be positionable in a specified manner
(The gun points with ease)

[n] a promontory extending out into a large body of water
(they sailed south around the point)

[v] intend (something) to move towards a certain goal
(He aimed his fists towards his opponent's face criticism directed at her superior direct your anger towards others, not towards yourself)

[n] a distinct part that can be specified separately in a group of things that could be enumerated on a list
(he noticed an item in the New York Times she had several items on her shopping list the main point on the agenda was taken up first)

[v] indicate the presence of (game) by standing and pointing with the muzzle
(the dog pointed the dead duck)

[n] a style in speech or writing that arrests attention and has a penetrating or convincing quality or effect

[v] give a point to
(The candles are tapered)

[n] an outstanding characteristic
(his acting was one of the high points of the movie)

[v] repair the joints of bricks
(point a chimney)

[n] sharp end
(he stuck the point of the knife into a tree he broke the point of his pencil)

[n] any of 32 horizontal directions indicated on the card of a compass
(he checked the point on his compass)

[n] a linear unit used to measure the size of type; approximately 1/72 inch

[n] one percent of the total principal of a loan; it is paid at the time the loan is made and is independent of the interest on the loan

[n] a punctuation mark (.) placed at the end of a declarative sentence to indicate a full stop or after abbreviations
(in England they call a period a stop)

[n] a V-shaped mark at one end of an arrow pointer
(the point of the arrow was due north)

[n] the dot at the left of a decimal fraction

[n] the property of a shape that tapers to a sharp tip

[n] a distinguishing or individuating characteristic
(he knows my bad points as well as my good points)

[n] the gun muzzle's direction
(he held me up at the point of a gun)

[n] a wall socket

[n] a contact in the distributor; as the rotor turns its projecting arm contacts them and current flows to the spark plugs

Other vocabulary

p, p-n junction, p-n-p transistor, p-type semiconductor, p. g. wodehouse, p. p. von mauser, p. t. barnum, p.a., p.a. system, p.e., p.m., p.o., p/e ratio, pa, pa system, pa'anga, paba, pabir, pablo casals, pablo neruda, pablo picasso, pablum, pabulum, pac, pac-man strategy, paca, pace, pace car, pace lap, pacemaker, o, o level, o ring, o'brien, o'casey, o'clock, o'connor, o'er, o'flaherty, o'hara, o'keeffe, o'neill, o'toole, o. henry, o.d., o.e.d., o.k., oaf, oafish, oahu, oahu island, oak, oak apple, oak blight, oak chestnut, oak fern, oak leaf cluster, oak tree, oak-leaved goosefoot, oaken

Dictionary

A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged alphabetically (or by consonantal root for Semitic languages or radical and stroke for ideographic languages), which may include information on definitions, usage, etymologies, pronunciations, translation, etc. It is a lexicographical reference that shows inter-relationships among the data.

A broad distinction is made between general and specialized dictionaries. Specialized dictionaries include words in specialist fields, rather than a complete range of words in the language. Lexical items that describe concepts in specific fields are usually called terms instead of words, although there is no consensus whether lexicology and terminology are two different fields of study. In theory, general dictionaries are supposed[citation needed] to be semasiological, mapping word to definition, while specialized dictionaries are supposed to be onomasiological, first identifying concepts and then establishing the terms used to designate them. In practice, the two approaches are used for both types. There are other types of dictionaries that do not fit neatly into the above distinction, for instance bilingual (translation) dictionaries, dictionaries of synonyms (thesauri), and rhyming dictionaries. The word dictionary (unqualified) is usually understood to refer to a general purpose monolingual dictionary.

There is also a contrast between prescriptive or descriptive dictionaries; the former reflect what is seen as correct use of the language while the latter reflect recorded actual use. Stylistic indications (e.g. "informal" or "vulgar") in many modern dictionaries are also considered by some to be less than objectively descriptive.

The first recorded dictionaries date back to Sumerian times around 2300 BCE, in the form of bilingual dictionaries, and the oldest surviving monolingual dictionaries are Chinese dictionaries c. 3rd century BCE. The first purely English alphabetical dictionary was A Table Alphabeticall, written in 1604, and monolingual dictionaries in other languages also began appearing in Europe at around this time. The systematic study of dictionaries as objects of scientific interest arose as a 20th-century enterprise, called lexicography, and largely initiated by Ladislav Zgusta. The birth of the new discipline was not without controversy, with the practical dictionary-makers being sometimes accused by others of having an "astonishing" lack of method and critical-self reflection.