pock
Americannoun
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a pustule on the body in an eruptive disease, as smallpox.
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a mark or spot left by or resembling such a pustule.
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a small indentation, pit, hole, or the like.
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Scot. poke.
noun
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any pustule resulting from an eruptive disease, esp from smallpox
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another word for pockmark
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of pock
before 1000; Middle English pokke, Old English poc; cognate with German Pocke; perhaps akin to Old English pocca. See poke 2
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.
Her father could no longer work in the coal mines that pock the mountains here after an injury.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 17, 2025
Tens of thousands of craters larger than 10 kilometers pock the Moon, but the researchers also figured the collision had to be relatively recent and the resulting crater particularly young.
From Science Magazine ● Apr. 19, 2024
At the 115-year-old Niles Hotel — where ancient bullet holes pock the tin ceiling by the downstairs saloon — getting the creeps is part of the appeal.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 26, 2023
Hundreds of craters pock the fields all around.
From New York Times ● May 12, 2022
“Aii, Lena,” she had said after that dinner so many years ago, “your future husband have one pock mark for every rice you not finish.”
From "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan
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.
