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• pod
  pod

  noun

  a somewhat elongated, two-valved seed vessel, as that of the pea or bean.
• POD
  POD

  abbreviation

  port of debarkation.
• pod-
  pod-

  a learned borrowing from Greek meaning “foot,” used in the formation of compound words: pododynia.
• -pod
  -pod

  a combining form meaning “one having a foot” of the kind or number specified by the initial element; often corresponding to New Latin class names ending in -poda, with -pod used in English to name a single member of such a class: cephalopod.
• P.O.D.
  P.O.D.

  abbreviation

  pay on delivery.
• p.o.'d
  p.o.'d

  adjective

  pissed off.
• –pod
  –pod

  A suffix meaning “foot.” It is used in the scientific names of the members of many groups of organisms, such as arthropod, an organism having “jointed feet,” and sauropod, a dinosaur having “lizard feet.” It is also used in the names of different kinds of limbs or limblike body parts, such as pseudopod, the “false foot” of an amoeba.

pod

¹ American  

[pod] / pɒd /

noun

1. a somewhat elongated, two-valved seed vessel, as that of the pea or bean.

2. a dehiscent fruit or pericarp having several seeds.

3. Entomology.

   1. an insect egg case.

   2. a compact mass of insect eggs.

4. a streamlined enclosure, housing, or detachable container of some kind.

   an engine pod under the wing of an aircraft.

5. a protective compartment, as for an automobile's instrument gauges.

6. bubble.

   I've agreed with some friends to become part of their pandemic pod.

7. Mining. an orebody that has an elongated or lenticular shape.

8. Radio and Television Slang. a cluster of brief commercials or spot announcements.

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verb (used without object)

• pods,
  present (3rd person singular)
• podded,
  past participle,  past
• podding
  present participle

1. to produce pods.

2. to swell out like a pod.

pod ² American  

[pod] / pɒd /

noun

1. a group of aquatic animals, especially marine mammals.

   a pod of walruses.

2. a small flock of birds.

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pod ³ American  

[pod] / pɒd /

noun

1. podcast: I'll be podding about the film next week.

   What pods do you listen to?

   I'll be podding about the film next week.

   We should pod all the discussions we're having leading up to our trip.

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pod ⁴ American  

[pod] / pɒd /

noun

1. the straight groove or channel in the body of certain augers or bits.

2. Carpentry. pad.

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POD ⁵ American  

abbreviation

1. port of debarkation.

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pod- ⁶ American  

1. a learned borrowing from Greek meaning “foot,” used in the formation of compound words: pododynia.

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-pod ⁷ American  

1. a combining form meaning “one having a foot” of the kind or number specified by the initial element; often corresponding to New Latin class names ending in -poda, with -pod used in English to name a single member of such a class: cephalopod.

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P.O.D. ⁸ American  

abbreviation

1. pay on delivery.

2. Post Office Department.

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p.o.'d ⁹ American  

[pee-ohd] / ˈpiˈoʊd /

adjective

Slang.

1. pissed off.

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pod ¹ British  

/ pɒd /

noun

1. 1. the fruit of any leguminous plant, consisting of a long two-valved case that contains seeds and splits along both sides when ripe

   2. the seedcase as distinct from the seeds

2. any similar fruit

3. a streamlined structure attached by a pylon to an aircraft and used to house a jet engine ( podded engine ), fuel tank, armament, etc

4. an enclosed cabin suspended from a cable or a big wheel, for carrying passengers

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verb

1. (tr) to remove the pod or shell from (peas, beans, etc)

2. (intr) (of a plant) to produce pods

POD ² British  

abbreviation

1. pay on delivery

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abbreviation

1. print on demand

pod ³ British  

/ pɒd /

noun

1. a straight groove along the length of certain augers and bits

2. the socket that holds the bit in a boring tool

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-pod ⁴ British  

combining form

1. indicating a certain type or number of feet

   arthropod

   tripod

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pod ⁵ British  

/ pɒd /

noun

1. a small group of animals, esp seals, whales, or birds

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–pod ¹ Scientific  

1. A suffix meaning “foot.” It is used in the scientific names of the members of many groups of organisms, such as arthropod, an organism having “jointed feet,” and sauropod, a dinosaur having “lizard feet.” It is also used in the names of different kinds of limbs or limblike body parts, such as pseudopod, the “false foot” of an amoeba.

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pod ² Scientific  

/ pŏd /

1. A fruit or seed case that usually splits along two seams to release its seeds when mature. Legumes, such as peas and beans, produce pods.

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Usage

What does pod- mean? The combining form pod- is a combining form used like a prefix meaning “foot.” It is very occasionally used in scientific terms, especially in biology and medicine. The form pod- comes from Greek poús, meaning “foot.” The Latin cognate of poús is pēs, “foot,” and is the source of several combining forms related to the lower extremities, including -ped, -pede, ped-, and pedi-. Discover more at our Words That Use articles for each of these four forms. What are variants of pod-?The form pod- is a variant of podo-, which loses its -o- when combined with words or word elements beginning with vowels, and shares an origin with the combining forms -pod, -poda, -pode, -podium, and -podous. Want to know more? Read our Words That Use articles for all six forms.

What does -pod mean? The combining form -pod is used like a suffix meaning “one having a foot” or "-footed." It is often used to denote a single member of a class in zoology. For example, a member of the class Cephalopoda (which includes mollusks like squid), is a cephalopod. The form -pod comes from Greek -pous, meaning “-footed.” The Latin cognate of -pous is -pēs, “-footed,” and is the source of several combining forms related to the lower extremities, including -ped, -pede, and pedi-. Discover more at our Words That Use articles for each of these three forms. What are the variants of -pod? Though -pod doesn’t have any variants, it shares an origin with the combining forms pod-, podo-, -poda, -pode, -podium, and -podous. Want to know more? Read our Words That Use articles for all six forms.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• podlike
  adjective
• unpodded
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• podding
  present
• podded
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• pod
  simple
• pods
  simple
• have podded
  perfect
• has podded
  perfect
• am podding
  progressive
• are podding
  progressive
• is podding
  progressive
• have been podding
  perfect progressive
• has been podding
  perfect progressive

Past

• podded
  simple
• had podded
  perfect
• was podding
  progressive
• were podding
  progressive
• had been podding
  perfect progressive

Future

• will pod
  simple
• will have podded
  perfect
• will be podding
  progressive
• will have been podding
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of pod¹

First recorded in 1680–90; apparently back formation from podder “gatherer of peas (as from a garden)”; further origin uncertain)

Origin of pod²

An Americanism dating back to 1825–35; perhaps special (originally facetious) use of pod ¹

Origin of pod³

First recorded in 2005–10; by shortening

Origin of pod⁴

First recorded in 1565–75; origin uncertain; perhaps a continuation of Old English pād “outer garment, cloak,” the socket being thought of as something that covers or hides from view what is held in it (though the phonology is irregular)

Origin of pod-⁶

Combining form representing Greek poús (genitive podós ) foot

Origin of -pod⁷

From New Latin, from Greek -pod-, stem of -pous, adjective derivative of poús; see origin at foot

Origin of p.o.'d⁹

First recorded in 1945–50; by shortening

Explanation

A pod is a case that holds a plant's seeds. When you buy fresh peas from the farmer's market, they come still in their pod. In many plants, seeds grow in groups, nestled within a pod. Peas are one such plant, and many other legumes and flowers have seed pods as well. The expression "two peas in a pod" refers to the way seeds are clustered together within the pod, and means "very similar to each other." Pod comes from the fifteenth century term podware, "seed of legumes or grain."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pod POD pod- P.O.D. pods podded podding

On that winter morning at the Red Rock Correctional Center in Lawton, Oklahoma, Walters was exiting his cell pod when guard Ronnie Sloan approached to deliver the unexpected message.

From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026

And I can confirm that sitting in the Alaska pod for 10 hours was dreamy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

They are part of a large pod of 30 belugas living at Marineland of Canada that need to be rehomed.

From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026

When a pod dissolves in the wash cycle, the chemicals mix and activate.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026

I sit up in the pod but can’t see what they see.

From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera

Researchers measured the activity of protective enzymes including APX, SOD, PAL, and POD, while also analyzing gene expression linked to antioxidant defense systems.

From Science Daily ● May 23, 2026

My daughters also have powers of attorney on all of my bank accounts, and my husband has his children listed as POD on his accounts as well, so that is fair and square.

From MarketWatch ● Feb. 10, 2026

"I’m going to keep doing my job until someone drags me out of me POD," one poster wrote.

From Salon ● Jan. 31, 2025

The Baltimore-based artist, whose work is in the street-facing display windows of 355 POD Space Gallery, is a master of making the hard appear soft.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 1, 2022

They were also printed in the same colors on entire envelopes of white and buff laid paper with the POD over US watermark of the regular United States stationery.

From Canada: Its Postage Stamps and Postal Stationery by Clifton Armstrong Howes

The Aryan root is pod-, which appears in Sans. pūd, Gr. ποῦς, ποδός and Lat. pes, pedis.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 5 "Fleury, Claude" to "Foraker" by Various

In the aughts, the airwaves were full of bands led by Christians: Creed, P.O.D.,

From The New Yorker ● Sep. 17, 2018

P.O.D. even played on Saturday Night Live last month.

From Time Magazine Archive

A typical P.O.D. lyric is pointed but tries to avoid religious cliche: "Commit my life to rebirth, well respected, 'cause that's my word/I'm sure you heard, about a new sound going around."

From Time Magazine Archive

"Half of it goes to the man in England who ships the letter on short postage, and the other half goes to the P.O.D. to protect cheap postage from inaugurating a deficit."

From Mark Twain's Letters — Volume 6 (1907-1910) by Albert Bigelow Paine

In June, the charity also took the keys to eight one-bedroom modular "pods", which were gifted by the Hill Group, an Essex-based developer.

From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026

It features an open floor plan, limited traditional offices, communal hubs and privacy pods for confidential interviews or calls.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026

They said a variety of deterrents, including spikes and vapour-releasing gel pods to discourage roosting, were used as a first port of call.

From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026

Most pods have three chambers, each holding a mix of chemicals.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026

The milkweed pods have exploded; they’re drooling foam into the bracken.

From "Landscape with Invisible Hand" by M.T. Anderson

These podded varieties can also be broken down into color categories.

From Salon ● May 30, 2022

“But I’ve seen them kind of bunched up and podded up, and I’m seeing them in places where I don’t ordinarily see them.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 17, 2021

"I feel it's your moral and professional obligation to inform, since we're not all podded up and being tested every single day," Aniston insisted.

From Fox News ● Aug. 4, 2021

I think being podded because of the pandemic was a big part of the bonding.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 1, 2021

The podded hollyhocks,—that Fall Had stripped of finery,—by the wall Rustled their tatters; dripped and dripped, The fog thick on them: near them, all The tarnished, haglike zinnias tipped.

From Poems by Madison Julius Cawein

In lower and middle schools, students are instead eating indoors, but with “mitigating measures such as use of seating charts, podding and sign-in sheets,” according to the district’s website.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 12, 2021

In New Brunswick, indoor personal gatherings remain limited to 15 people, so many families are still podding — but Ms. O’Sullivan is anticipating more teenage feelings when they split.

From New York Times ● May 21, 2021

Plus, effective suppression of coronavirus transmission, without all that podding and traveling.

From Slate ● Jul. 31, 2020

I had been podding with my family, my husband and our two boys, with neighbors and their children.

From New York Times ● Jul. 24, 2020

English catalogues describe the variety as being "the earliest white, wrinkled marrow-pea in cultivation; podding from the bottom of the stalk to the top, with fine large pods."

From The Field and Garden Vegetables of America Containing Full Descriptions of Nearly Eleven Hundred Species and Varietes; With Directions for Propagation, Culture and Use. by Fearing Burr

Related Words

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