pockmark
Americannoun
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Usually pockmarks. scars or pits left by a pustule in smallpox or the like.
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a small pit or scar.
a tabletop full of pockmarks.
verb (used with object)
noun
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Also called: pock. a pitted scar left on the skin after the healing of a smallpox or similar pustule
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any pitting of a surface that resembles or suggests such scars
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of pockmark
Explanation
A pockmark is a small, concave scar on a person's skin. Pockmarks can be caused by severe acne. People who have a lot of pimples as teenagers sometimes end up with pockmarks on their faces as adults. Any serious skin condition — including chickenpox or insect bites — can result in a pockmark. You can also use this word as a verb, either to mean "mark with scars," or to describe something that reminds you of pockmarked skin: "The rain pockmarks the smooth sand on the beach."
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.
These sediment gravity flows appear to cause erosion in the center of each pockmark, maintaining these unique underwater morphologic features over time.
From Science Daily ● May 21, 2024
They pockmark downtowns with stretches of asphalt that separate businesses and spread out cities, leading to more driving, and more parking, even in areas with mass transit.
From New York Times ● Mar. 7, 2023
So many uranium mines, mills and waste piles pockmark the Navajo Nation that the Environmental Protection Agency created a comic book superhero, Gamma Goat, to warn Diné children away from the sites.
From Salon ● Dec. 6, 2022
More than 500 abandoned uranium mines pockmark the Navajo Nation, and Billiman’s father, a Navajo code talker in World War II, died of stomach cancer, an illness associated with downwind exposure to nuclear tests.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2022
I investigated a nearby pockmark and saw, in the ring of impact, the fat coil of a caterpillar.
From "Endangered" by Eliot Schrefer
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.
