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
-
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:
But today, as they mark the one-year anniversary of their son's tragic accident, they will pour all their focus into climbing Snowdon with their children Phoebe and Ollie, and the family of Billy's girlfriend Lois.
From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026
“I think right now I’m really spending a lot of my time trying to pour into Cam as well,” Ogwumike told reporters this week.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026
The exhibitions featured at the Visa pour L'Image event are on display in venues around Perpignan until September 13.
From Barron's ● Sep. 5, 2026
During construction, data centers need people who can pour concrete, wire electric panels and install equipment like power generators and chillers to keep servers cool.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
“Beavers! Build dams in every brook and stream. We must not let any fresh water pour into the ocean! “
From "The Wild Robot Protects" by Peter Brown
The petition was started by TVP federation chair Aileen O'Connor who said the decision to consider the killers for early release "pours salt into wounds that have never healed".
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
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
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
A thin rivulet of green liquid pours over his cheek.
From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black
I have spent most of my career in newsrooms and restaurants; one restaurant poured me an iced coffee before we sat at the bar to discuss a front-of-house job.
From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026
In the past, diesel fuel was poured around the bases of the trees, and grounds staff said last month that they suspected copper sulfate was dumped into the holes drilled near the roots.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026
He poured money into the operation, enabling it to whisk berries onto store shelves via refrigerated trucks within two days of picking.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
Tributes poured in for the avid runner, affectionately known as "Tsontso" after police confirmed her death.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
That thought poured icy water over my head.
From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff
The offers are pouring in to fill the abandoned prison site, said San Joaquin County Supervisor Robert Rickman, who was mayor of Tracy from 2016-2020.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026
Ontario Premier Doug Ford responded to that closure announcement a year ago by pouring out a bottle of Crown Royal during a news conference.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 9, 2026
Images of the office widely shared online showed black smoke pouring from two windows on the front of the building.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
Fueled by an approachable cost of living with quality real estate, Cleveland is pouring billions of dollars into transforming its downtown and waterfront into a next-generation urban core.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 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.
