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pod1

[pod]
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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. Mining. an orebody that has an elongated or lenticular shape.
  7. Radio and Television Slang. a cluster of brief commercials or spot announcements.
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verb (used without object), pod·ded, pod·ding.
  1. to produce pods.
  2. to swell out like a pod.
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Origin of pod1

1680–90; apparently back formation from podder peasecod gatherer; comparepodder, variant of podware, unexplained variant of codware bagged vegetables (cod2 + -ware crops, vegetables)
Related formspod·like, adjectiveun·pod·ded, adjective

pod2

[pod]
noun
  1. a small herd or school, especially of seals or whales.
  2. a small flock of birds.
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Origin of pod2

1825–35, Americanism; perhaps special (orig. facetious) use of pod1

pod3

[pod]
noun
  1. the straight groove or channel in the body of certain augers or bits.
  2. Carpentry. pad1(def 15b).
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Origin of pod3

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

POD

  1. port of debarkation.
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pod-

  1. a learned borrowing from Greek meaning “foot,” used in the formation of compound words: pododynia.
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Also especially before a consonant, podo-.

Origin of pod-

combining form representing Greek poús (genitive podós) foot

-pod

  1. a combining form meaning “one having a foot” of the kind or number specified by the initial element; often corresponding to Neo-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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Compare -ped.

Origin of -pod

< New Latin < Greek -pod-, stem of -pous, adj. derivative of poús foot

p.o.'d

[pee-ohd]
adjective Slang.
  1. pissed off.
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P.O.D.

  1. pay on delivery.
  2. Post Office Department.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

capsulehuskskincaseshellcoveringhullvesselsheathshucksheathing

Examples from the Web for pod

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • She is her father's own child and she is like him as two pase in the pod.

    Her Father's Daughter

    Gene Stratton-Porter

  • Over five thousand betting, and the guesses as close as peas in a pod.

    The Trail of '98

    Robert W. Service

  • The pod is elliptical, and the cotton which bursts from it at maturity is snow-white.

  • Rub the warts with the inside of a bean pod, and then throw the pod away.

    Welsh Folk-Lore

    Elias Owen

  • "Yellow cotton" was cotton which for any reason had been stained in the pod.

British Dictionary definitions for pod

pod1

noun
    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 pods, podding or podded
  1. (tr) to remove the pod or shell from (peas, beans, etc)
  2. (intr) (of a plant) to produce pods
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Word Origin

C17: perhaps back formation from earlier podware bagged vegetables, probably from pod, variant of cod ² + ware 1

pod2

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

C19: of unknown origin

pod3

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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Word Origin

C16: of unknown origin

POD

abbreviation for
  1. pay on delivery
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abbreviation for
  1. print on demand
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-pod

-pode

n combining form
  1. indicating a certain type or number of feetarthropod; tripod
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Word Origin

from Greek -podos footed, from pous foot
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for pod

n.1

"seed of beans," 1680s, of uncertain origin; found earlier in podware "seed of legumes, seed grain" (mid-15c.), which had a parallel form codware "husked or seeded plants" (late 14c.), related to cod "husk of seeded plants," which was in Old English. In reference to pregnancy from 1890; in reference to a round belly from 1825. Meaning "detachable body of an aircraft" is from 1950. Pod people (1956) is from movie "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," based on novel by Jack Finney.

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n.2

"herd of whales or seals," 1827, American English, of unknown origin.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
pod in Science

pod

[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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-pod

  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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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.