Definition of "point"

A small dot or mark.

1. Something tiny, as a pinprick; a very small mark.  examples

2. A full stop or other terminal punctuation mark.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • Commas and points they set exactly right.

     1735, Alexander Pope, The Prologue to the Satires

3. (mathematics) A decimal point (now especially when reading decimal fractions aloud).  examples

4. Each of the marks or strokes written above letters, especially in Semitic languages, to indicate vowels, stress etc.  examples

5. (music) A dot or mark used to designate certain tones or time. In ancient music, it distinguished or characterized certain tones or styles (points of perfection, of augmentation, etc.). In modern music, it is placed on the right of a note to raise its value, or prolong its time, by one half.  examples

6. (by extension) A note; a tune.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • Sound the trumpet — not a levant, or a flourish, but a point of war.

     1826, [Walter Scott], Woodstock; Or, The Cavalier. […], volumes (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green

7. (mathematics, sciences) A zero-dimensional mathematical object representing a location in one or more dimensions; something considered to have position but no magnitude or direction.  examples

A small discrete division or individual feature of something.

1. An individual element in a larger whole; a particular detail, thought, or quality.  examples

2. A particular moment in an event or occurrence; a juncture.  examples

3. (archaic) Condition, state.

4. A topic of discussion or debate; a proposition.  examples

5. (US, slang, dated) An item of private information; a hint; a tip; a pointer.

6. A focus of conversation or consideration; the main idea.  examples

7. A purpose or objective, which makes something meaningful.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • But I love you / More than I wanted to / There's no point in trying to pretend

     1983 October 31, Genesis, “That's All”, in Genesis‎

   • We're all gonna dieWhat's the point in lifeWhat's the point in life if we all die?

     2023, “What's the Point in Life”, performed by Coach Party

8. (obsolete) The smallest quantity of something; a jot, a whit.  quotations

   Quotations

   • full large of limbe and euery ioint / He was, and cared not for God or man a point.

     1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, I.ii

9. (obsolete) A tiny amount of time; a moment.  quotations

   Quotations

   • When time's first point begun / Made he all souls.

     1599, John Davies, “Of the Soule of Man and the Immortalitie Thereof”, in Nosce Teipsum

10. A specific location or place, seen as a spatial position.  examples

11. A distinguishing quality or characteristic.  examples

12. (in the plural, dated) The chief or excellent features.  quotations  examples

    Quotations

    • Knowledge was always useful, and he had frequently heard the words 'Great Portland Street' on the lips of his son, who regularly perused all the twelve automobilistic papers, and who was apparently the most learned pundit and inclusive encyclopædia ever created on the subject of petrol-driven vehicles, their prices, and their innumerable points.

      1931, Arnold Bennett, The Night Visitor and Other Stories, page 290

13. (usually in the plural) An area of contrasting colour on an animal, especially a dog; a marking.  examples

14. (now only in phrases) A tenth; formerly also a twelfth.  examples

15. Short for percentage point.  quotations  examples

    Quotations

    • We have yet to touch on the idea of stars and directors receiving gross points, which is a percentage of the studio's gross dollar (e.g., the $5.00 studio share of the total box office dollar in Table 4.1). Even if the points are paid on "first dollar," the reference is only to studio share.

      2013, Louise Levison, Filmmakers and Financing: Business Plans for Independents, page 67

16. (sports, video games, board games) A unit of scoring in a game or competition.  examples

17. (economics) A unit used to express differences in prices of stocks and shares.  examples

18. (typography) a unit of measure equal to 1/12 of a pica, or approximately 1/72 of an inch (exactly 1/72 of an inch in the digital era).  examples

19. (UK) An electric power socket.  examples

20. (navigation, nautical) A unit of bearing equal to one thirty-second of a circle, i.e. 11.25°.  examples

21. (UK) A unit of measure for rain, equal to 0.254 mm or 0.01 of an inch.  examples

22. (automotive, chiefly in the plural) Either of the two metal surfaces in a distributor which close or open to allow or prevent the flow of current through the ignition coil. There is usually a moving point, pushed by the distributor cam, and a fixed point, and they are built together as a unit.  examples

A sharp extremity.

1. The sharp tip of an object.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • Leaue words & let them feele your lances pointes

     c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, Act III, scene iii

2. Any projecting extremity of an object.  examples

3. An object which has a sharp or tapering tip.

   1. (archaeology) A spearhead or similar object hafted to a handle.  quotations

      Quotations

      • Solutrean points resemble the canines of the sabre-toothed cats.

        2018, Tim Flannery, Europe: A Natural History

   2. (medicine, obsolete) A vaccine point.

4. (backgammon) Each of the twelve triangular positions in either table of a backgammon board, on which the stones are played.  examples

5. A peninsula or promontory.  examples

6. The position at the front or vanguard of an advancing force.  quotations

   Quotations

   • Willie Jones decided to become Kimani Jones, Black Panther, on the day his best friend, Otis Nicholson, stepped on a mine while walking point during a sweep in the central highlands.

     2004, Martin Torgoff, Can't Find My Way Home […] , Simon & Schuster, page 189

   1. (by extension) An operational or public leadership position in a risky endeavor.  quotations  examples

      Quotations

      • "When do we pull the trigger?" he asked. I was quick to respond, "If Tammy get's Mrs. Wellington to agree, she'll call you in a couple hours. Then just pull out all stops. Tammy has point on this, I don't want to hear from you unless it's an all clear."

        2013, Erik Schubach, Music of the Soul, volume 1

      • The president’s senior policy adviser, Stephen Miller, has been point on immigration policy.

        2018 July 2, Paul Winfree, “Trump’s economic agenda is unfocused. Here’s how to fix it.”, in Washington Post

      • He captained Regis High School’s 1958 squad, but now runs point on infectious diseases.

        2020 July 23, Gabe Lacques, “Dr. Anthony Fauci throws first pitch at Nationals-Yankees MLB opener”, in USA TODAY

      • Instead of one point-person taking all the parents’ questions, WPSD has “put together coaches and ambassadors to handle calls so one person doesn’t have to handle 2,500 calls,” Woolf said.

        2020 August 11, Michelle Karas, “Woodland Park School District plans for Aug. 25 reopening with multiple learning options”, in Pikes Peak Courier

   2. Short for point man.  examples

7. Each of the main directions on a compass, usually considered to be 32 in number; a direction.  examples

8. (nautical) The difference between two points of the compass.  examples

9. Pointedness of speech or writing; a penetrating or decisive quality of expression.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • There was moreover a hint of the duchess in the infinite point with which, as she felt, she exclaimed: "And this is what you call coming often?"

     1897, Henry James, What Maisie Knew

   • I told him about everything I could think of; and what I couldn't think of he did. He asked about six questions during my yarn, but every question had a point to it. At the end he bowed and thanked me once more. As a thanker he was main-truck high; I never see anybody so polite.

     1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 4, in Mr. Pratt's Patients

10. (rail transport, UK, in the plural) A railroad switch.  examples

11. A tine or snag of an antler.  examples

12. (heraldry) One of the "corners" of the escutcheon: the base (bottom center) unless a qualifier is added (point dexter, point dexter base, point sinister, point sinister base), generally when separately tinctured. (Compare terrace, point champaine, enté en point.) This is sometimes blazoned argent, four points gules; otherwise, it is vêtu.  examples

13. (heraldry, by extension) An ordinary similar to a pile (but sometimes shorter), extending upward from the base. (Often termed a point pointed.)  quotations  examples

    Quotations

    • The point, according to Edmondson, (meaning the point pointed,) is an ordinary somewhat resembling the pile, issuing from the base, as in Plate VII. fig. 24, and is sometimes termed a base point pointed, but the word base is superfluous, as that is the proper place of the point; […]

      1828, William Berry, Encyclopaedia Heraldica Or Complete Dictionary of Heraldry

The act of pointing.

1. The act of pointing, as of the foot downward in certain dance positions.  examples

2. The gesture of extending the index finger in a direction in order to indicate something.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • […] DCDP children are exposed to more points and gesturelike signs in their linguistic environment […]

     2005, Marc Marschark, Patricia Elizabeth Spencer, Oxford handbook of deaf studies, language, and education

3. The attitude assumed by a pointer dog when he finds game.  examples

4. (falconry) The perpendicular rising of a hawk over the place where its prey has gone into cover.  examples

5. (fencing) A movement executed with the sabre or foil.  examples

(nautical) A short piece of cordage used in reefing sails.  examples

(historical) A string or lace used to tie together certain garments.  quotations

Lace worked by the needle.  quotations  examples

In various sports, a position of a certain player, or, by extension, the player occupying that position.

1. (cricket) A fielding position square of the wicket on the off side, between gully and cover.  examples

2. (lacrosse, ice hockey) The position of the player of each side who stands a short distance in front of the goalkeeper.  examples

3. (baseball) The position of the pitcher and catcher.  examples

4. (hunting) A spot to which a straight run is made; hence, a straight run from point to point; a cross-country run.  examples

(intransitive) To extend the index finger in the direction of something in order to show where it is or to draw attention to it.  quotations  examples

(intransitive) To draw attention to something or indicate a direction.  quotations  examples

(intransitive) To face in a particular direction.  examples

(transitive, sometimes figurative) To direct toward an object; to aim.  quotations  examples

To give a point to; to sharpen; to cut, forge, grind, or file to an acute end.  examples

(intransitive) To indicate a probability of something.  quotations  examples

(transitive, intransitive, masonry) To repair mortar.  examples

(transitive, masonry) To fill up and finish the joints of (a wall), by introducing additional cement or mortar, and bringing it to a smooth surface.  examples

(stone-cutting) To cut, as a surface, with a pointed tool.  quotations  examples

(transitive) To direct or encourage (someone) in a particular direction.  quotations  examples

(transitive, mathematics) To separate an integer from a decimal with a decimal point.  examples

(transitive) To mark with diacritics.  examples

(dated) To supply with punctuation marks; to punctuate.  examples

(transitive, computing) To direct the central processing unit to seek information at a certain location in memory.  examples

(transitive, Internet) To direct requests sent to a domain name to the IP address corresponding to that domain name.  examples

(intransitive, nautical) To sail close to the wind.  examples

(intransitive, hunting) To indicate the presence of game by a fixed and steady look, as certain hunting dogs do.  quotations  examples

(medicine, of an abscess) To approximate to the surface; to head.  examples

(dated) To give point to (something said or done); to give particular prominence or force to.  quotations  examples

(obsolete) To appoint.  quotations