Definition of "cursor"

cursor

/kɜɹsəɹ/

noun
plural cursors
1. A part of any of several scientific or measuring instruments that moves back and forth to indicate a position.
  Quotations
  Besides, the Reader must know, if a Brazen graduated Semi-Circle were hung on the Poles here, with an erected moveable Pin, or Cursor on it, there would be no need of the Holes […] in each Parallel of the Globe, for the true Composing of it […]
  1679, Roger Palmer, 1st Earl of Castlemaine, Joseph Moxon, The English globe being a stabil and immobil one, performing what the ordinary globes do, and much more, page 150
2. (graphical user interface) A moving icon or other representation, usually called a pointer, of the position of the pointing device.
3. (graphical user interface) An indicator, often a blinking line or bar and sometimes called a caret, indicating where the next insertion or other edit will take place.
4. (databases) A reference to a row of data in a table, which moves from row to row as data is retrieved by way of it.
5. (programming) A design pattern in object oriented methodology in which a collection is iterated uniformly.
verb
third-person singular simple present cursors, present participle cursoring, simple past and past participle cursored
1. (intransitive, computing) To navigate by means of the cursor keys.
  Quotations
  The only other problem is that there's a nagging tendency for the highlight to overrun when cursoring through file lists.
  1990 May 28, InfoWorld, volume 12, number 22