pour
Americanverb (used with object)
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pours,
present (3rd person singular)
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poured,
past participle, past
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pouring
present participle
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to send (a liquid, fluid, or anything in loose particles) flowing or falling, as from one container to another, or into, over, or on something.
to pour a glass of milk; to pour water on a plant.
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to emit or propel, especially continuously or rapidly.
The hunter poured bullets into the moving object.
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to produce or utter in or as in a stream or flood (often followed byout ).
to pour out one's troubles to a friend.
verb (used without object)
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pours,
present (3rd person singular)
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poured,
past participle, past
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pouring
present participle
-
to issue, move, or proceed in great quantity or number.
Crowds poured from the stadium after the game.
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to flow forth or along; stream.
Floodwaters poured over the embankments.
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to rain heavily (often used impersonally with it as subject).
It was pouring, but fortunately we had umbrellas.
noun
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the act of pouring.
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an abundant or continuous flow or stream.
a pour of insults.
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a heavy fall of rain.
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a wine or other beverage.
a list of the best pours.
verb
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to flow or cause to flow in a stream
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(tr) to issue, emit, etc, in a profuse way
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Also: pour with rain. to rain heavily
it's pouring down outside
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(intr) to move together in large numbers; swarm
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(intr) to serve tea, coffee, etc
shall I pour?
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events, esp unfortunate ones, come together or occur in rapid succession
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informal to be unenthusiastic about or discourage
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to try to calm a quarrel, etc
noun
Usage
The verbs pour and pore are sometimes confused: she poured cream over her strudel; she pored (not poured ) over the manuscript
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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pourabilitynoun
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pourernoun
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interpourverb (used with object)
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repourverb (used with object)
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pourableadjective
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unpourableadjective
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unpouredadjective
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pouringlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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poursimple
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pourssimple
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have pouredperfect
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has pouredperfect
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am pouringprogressive
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are pouringprogressive
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is pouringprogressive
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have been pouringperfect progressive
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has been pouringperfect progressive
Past
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pouredsimple
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had pouredperfect
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was pouringprogressive
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were pouringprogressive
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had been pouringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of pour
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English pouren; origin uncertain
Explanation
To pour is to flow rapidly in a steady stream, or to cause something to flow. You can pour good coffee into a cup and pour bad coffee down the drain. You can pour your heart out, pour a cup of orange juice into or out of a cup, or watch the rain pour down while a poem pours from your lips. A jet of water may pour from a spout. Listen to how the water pours in this poem from Lewis Carroll's book, Alice in Wonderland: “How doth the little crocodile / Improve his shining tail, / And pour the waters of the Nile, / On every golden scale!”
Vocabulary lists containing pour
Commonly Confused Words, List 2
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Commonly Confused Words, List 5
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Commonly Confused Words, List 7
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
When a 65-foot hot dog sculpture returned to Times Square dressed only with mustard, Heinz and agency Rethink installed a billboard behind it appearing to pour the ketchup.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
Attention and money is set to pour into those races over the coming months, along with some key statewide races.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
To speed up service at crowded venues, Campari has developed a new way to pour the Aperol Spritz: on tap.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
Seydou met Jerry Rice at the NFL Academy in 2019 and interviewed him for a social media clip, in which the NFL legend told Seydou to "pour yourself into what you're trying to accomplish"
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
I’m watching kids pour out of the band room across the hall, thinking that relaxing must be easier for other people.
From "Popcorn" by Rob Harrell
Natural light pours into Bloom Center, by contrast.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
‘Hysteria’ grips San Francisco’s housing market as AI wealth pours in.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 9, 2026
He pours the Ditka wine into a plastic cup and unwraps his hoagie, layered with ham and, as the cashier so memorably described it, “limited-time yellow squirt.”
From Salon ● Jun. 30, 2026
We felt the best way for people to understand what oat milk is is to go to your coolest cafe, get a cool barista who pours you a perfect latte or cappuccino with oat milk.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 16, 2026
Mustafa asks as he pours himself some milk.
From "Amina's Song" by Hena Khan
Drugmakers racing to develop orexin-mimicking compounds have poured more than $10 billion upfront in deals.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
After Ramsey's delicate finish put Wales in front, they poured forward with such gusto that even Neil Taylor scored - the wing-back's first goal since he was playing in non-league for Wrexham six years earlier.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
Messages of grief poured out after the confirmation that none of the team had survived.
From Barron's ● Aug. 2, 2026
Most of the immigrants who had poured across the border Thursday and early Friday seemingly left of their own accord, hungry and thirsty after finding no help in the enclave.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 1, 2026
Antislavery and proslavery settlers poured into the Kansas territory to sway the vote on the question of slavery.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
Despite social media evidence to the contrary, Painter pleads he is "not always the culprit" when it comes to the pouring of ice buckets.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
Mourners took turns gently pouring water over a hand of the deceased while others lit incense sticks and folded their hands in prayer.
From Barron's ● Aug. 9, 2026
Tributes are pouring out across Nepal after an avalanche killed all 10 members of an expedition on Pakistan's Broad Peak, six of whom were Nepalese.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026
Lebec’s thrilled schoolkids pouring out of their classrooms just to see Lindbergh come out of the weather station, and wouldn’t go back until Lindy himself told them to.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2026
The Hessians were pouring over the hills, like a churning wave of green and red and silver.
From I Survived the American Revolution, 1776 by Lauren Tarshis
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
