point

American  

[point] / pɔɪnt /

noun

• points
  plural

1. a sharp or tapering end, as of a dagger.

2. a projecting part of anything.

   A point of land juts into the bay.

3. a tapering extremity.

   the points of the fingers.

4. something having a sharp or tapering end.

   a pen point.

5. a pointed tool or instrument, as an etching needle.

6. a stone implement with a tapering end found in some Middle and Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic cultures and used primarily for hunting.

7. a mark made with or as if with the sharp end of something.

   Her sharp heels left points in the carpet.

8. any mark of punctuation, especially a period.

9. decimal point.

   Numerically, “three point thirty-six” is written as 3.36, which is only slightly greater in value than three and a third.

10. Phonetics. a diacritic indicating a vowel or other modification of sound.

11. one of the embossed dots used in certain systems of writing and printing for the blind.

12. something that has position but not extension, as the intersection of two lines.

13. a place of which the position alone is considered; spot.

    We're leaving for Chicago and points west.

14. any definite position, as in a scale, course, etc..

    the boiling point.

15. (in acupuncture) a particular spot on the body at which a needle may be inserted, as to relieve pain.

16. Navigation. any of 32 separate horizontal directions, 11° 15′ apart, as indicated on the card of a compass or gauged with reference to the heading of a vessel.

17. Also called point of sailing. Nautical. the bearing of a sailing vessel, considered with relation to the direction of the wind.

18. a degree or stage.

    frankness to the point of insult.

19. a particular instant of time.

    It was at that point that I told him he'd said enough.

20. a critical position in a course of affairs.

    Morale had reached a low point.

21. a decisive state of circumstances.

    He reached the point where he could no longer pay his debts.

22. the important or essential thing.

    the point of the matter.

23. the salient feature of a story, epigram, joke, etc..

    to miss the point.

24. a particular aim, end, or purpose.

    He carried his point.

25. a hint or suggestion.

    points on getting a job.

26. a single or separate article or item, as in an extended whole; a detail or particular.

    the fine points of a contract.

27. an individual part or element of something.

    noble points in her character.

28. a distinguishing mark or quality, especially one of an animal, used as a standard in stockbreeding, judging, etc.

29. points, the external features of an animal, especially a horse or dog, that make up its conformation.

    Besides the withers, pastern, and barrel, how many points of the horse can you identify?

30. a single unit, as in counting.

31. a unit of count in the score of a game.

    Our team won by five points.

32. (in craps) the number that must be thrown to win but not including 7 or 11 on the first roll.

    Your point is 4.

33. Ice Hockey. either of two positions, to the right or left of the goal, to which an attacking defenseman is assigned, usually in the execution of a power play, to help keep the puck in the attacking zone.

34. Basketball. a position in the front court, usually taken by the guard in charge of setting up the team's offense.

35. Cricket.

    1. the position of the fielder who plays a short distance in front of and to the offside of the batsman.

    2. the fielder playing this position.

36. Chiefly Boxing. the end or tip (of the chin).

37. Hunting.

    1. the action of a hunting dog that indicates the presence and location of game by standing rigid and directing its head toward the game.

    2. the position taken by a hunting dog in pointing game.

38. a branch of an antler of a deer.

    an eight-point buck.

39. Sports. a cross-country run.

40. one of the narrow tapering spaces marked on a backgammon board.

41. Education. a single credit, usually corresponding to an hour's class work per week for one semester.

42. Electricity.

    1. Also called breaker point. either of a pair of contacts tipped with tungsten or platinum that make or break current flow in a distributor, as in an automobile.

    2. British. an outlet or socket.

43. Commerce.

    1. a unit of price quotation, as in the U.S., one dollar in stock transactions, one hundredth of a cent in cotton and coffee, or one cent in oil, grain, pork, etc..

       The price of the stock went up two points today.

    2. (especially in motion pictures) a percentage point, usually of the gross profits, granted to someone who agrees to invest or otherwise participate in a business project.

       The star of the movie received a million dollar guarantee and five points.

44. any of various units used to award credit, benefits, or penalties: Earn points every time you use the credit card at restaurants.

    You will get points on your license for certain traffic violations.

    Earn points every time you use the credit card at restaurants.

45. one percent of the face value of a loan, especially a mortgage loan, added on as a placement fee or a service charge and paid in advance or upon closing of the loan.

46. Jewelry. a unit of weight equal to 1/100 (.01) of a carat.

47. Military.

    1. a patrol or reconnaissance unit that goes ahead of the advance party of an advance guard, or follows the rear party of the rear guard.

    2. the stroke in bayonet drill or combat.

48. Printing.

    1. a unit of type measurement in the U.S. and U.K. equal to 1/72 inch, or 1/12 pica.

    2. Also called press-point. (in a press) one of several metal prongs for perforating the sheet so that it will be in register when the reverse is printed.

49. a unit of measure of paper or card thickness, equal to 0.001 inch.

50. Also called vaccine point. Medicine/Medical. (in historical use) a thin, pointed, vaccine-coated piece of bone or the like, for use in vaccinating.

51. point lace.

52. any lace made by hand.

53. Heraldry. one of the pendent parts of a label.

54. Railroads.

    1. the vertex of the angle formed at a frog by two rails; the intersection of gauge lines in a switch or frog.

    2. British. a tapering movable rail, as in a railroad switch.

55. (in the game of go) any place where lines intersect or meet.

56. act of pointing.

57. Archaic. a tagged ribbon or cord, formerly much used in dress, as for tying or fastening parts.

58. Obsolete. an end or conclusion.

59. Obsolete. a pointed weapon, as a dagger.

60. Obsolete. a condition, situation, or plight.

    to be feeling in good point.

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verb (used with object)

• points,
  present (3rd person singular)
• pointed,
  past participle,  past
• pointing
  present participle

1. to direct (the finger, a weapon, the attention, etc.) at, to, or upon something.

   The witness pointed her finger at the defendant, and said in a firm voice, "That's him, the man who took my purse."

2. to indicate the presence or position of (usually followed byout ).

   to point out an object in the sky.

3. to direct attention to (usually followed byout ).

   to point out the advantages of a proposal.

4. to furnish with a point or points; sharpen.

   to point a lead pencil.

5. to mark with one or more points, dots, or the like.

6. Sculpture. to transfer measurements of depth from a clay, wax, or plaster model to (a block of stone) by means of an apparatus that drills holes to the required depth prior to carving.

7. to punctuate, as writing.

8. Phonetics. to mark (letters) with points.

9. to separate (figures) by dots or points (usually followed byoff ).

10. Hunting. (of a hunting dog) to indicate the presence and location of (game) by standing rigid and facing toward the game.

11. Masonry.

    1. to fill the joints of (brickwork, stonework, etc.) with mortar or cement treated in various ways with tools after application.

    2. to dress the surface of (a stone) with a pointed tool.

12. to dress (a stone) with a point.

13. Metalworking.

    1. to narrow the end of (a rod) for passing through the dies of a drawbench.

    2. to narrow the end of (a tube) over the head of a pin that is gripped to pull the tube through the dies of a drawbench.

verb (used without object)

• points,
  present (3rd person singular)
• pointed,
  past participle,  past
• pointing
  present participle

1. to indicate position or direction, as with the finger.

   She pointed to where she wanted the sofa to go.

2. to direct the mind or thought in some direction; call attention to.

   Everything points to his guilt.

3. to aim.

   The police officer pointed at the speeding car, turned on his lights and siren, and set off in pursuit.

4. to have a tendency toward something.

   Economic conditions point to further inflation.

5. to have a specified direction.

   The sign pointed west.

6. to face in a particular direction, as a building.

7. Hunting. (of a hunting dog) to point game.

8. Nautical. to sail close to the wind.

9. (of an abscess) to come to a head.

verb phrase

1. point up to give greater or added force to.

   to point up the necessity for caution.

idioms

1. in point of, as regards; in reference to.

   in point of fact.

2. on point,

   1. in the lead position of an advancing military patrol.

      a soldier on point.

   2. relevant; directly applicable.

      His response was pretty much on point.

   3. excellent; perfect.

      The music and lyrics are on point.

3. to the point, pertinent; fitting.

   The reply was short and to the point.

4. in point, that is pertinent; applicable.

   a case in point.

5. at this point in time, now; at this precise moment in history.

   At this point in time the president believes peace has been achieved.

6. at / on / upon the point of, on the verge of; close to.

   on the point of death.

7. make a point of, to regard as important; insist on.

   She made a point of complimenting her friend's apartment.

8. make points with, to curry favor with: Also make Brownie points with.

   to make points with one's boss.

9. strain / stretch a point, to depart from the usual procedure or rule because of special circumstances; make a concession or exception.

   Though the position required three years of previous experience, and he had only two, they stretched a point because of his outstanding record.

point British  

/ pɔɪnt /

noun

1. a dot or tiny mark

2. a location, spot, or position

3. any dot or mark used in writing or printing, such as a decimal point or a full stop

4. short for vowel point

5. the sharp tapered end of a pin, knife, etc

6. a pin, needle, or other object having such a point

7. maths

   1. a geometric element having no dimensions and whose position in space is located by means of its coordinates

   2. a location

      point of inflection

8. a promontory, usually smaller than a cape

9. a specific condition or degree

10. a moment

    at that point he left the room

11. an important or fundamental reason, aim, etc

    the point of this exercise is to train new teachers

12. an essential element or thesis in an argument

    you've made your point

    I take your point

13. a suggestion or tip

14. a detail or item

15. an important or outstanding characteristic, physical attribute, etc

    he has his good points

16. a distinctive characteristic or quality of an animal, esp one used as a standard in judging livestock

17. (often plural) any of the extremities, such as the tail, ears, or feet, of a domestic animal

18. ballet (often plural) the tip of the toes

19. a single unit for measuring or counting, as in the scoring of a game

20. Australian rules football an informal name for behind

21. printing a unit of measurement equal to one twelfth of a pica, or approximately 0.01384 inch. There are approximately 72 points to the inch

22. finance

    1. a unit of value used to quote security and commodity prices and their fluctuations

    2. a percentage unit sometimes payable by a borrower as a premium on a loan

23. nautical

    1. one of the 32 marks on the circumference of a compass card indicating direction

    2. the angle of 11°15′ between two adjacent marks

    3. a point on the horizon indicated by such a mark

24. cricket

    1. a fielding position at right angles to the batsman on the off side and relatively near the pitch

    2. a fielder in this position

25. any of the numbers cast in the first throw in craps with which one neither wins nor loses by throwing them: 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10

26. either of the two electrical contacts that make or break the current flow in the distributor of an internal-combustion engine

27. US and Canadian equivalent: switch. (often plural) a junction of railway tracks in which a pair of rails can be moved so that a train can be directed onto either of two lines

28. (often plural) a piece of ribbon, cord, etc, with metal tags at the end: used during the 16th and 17th centuries to fasten clothing

29. backgammon a place or position on the board

30. 1. short for power point

    2. an informal name for socket

31. an aggressive position adopted in bayonet or sword drill

32. military the position at the head of a body of troops, or a person in this position

33. the position of the body of a pointer or setter when it discovers game

34. boxing a mark awarded for a scoring blow, knockdown, etc

35. any diacritic used in a writing system, esp in a phonetic transcription, to indicate modifications of vowels or consonants

36. jewellery a unit of weight equal to 0.01 carat

37. the act of pointing

38. ice hockey the position just inside the opponents' blue line

39. not pertinent; irrelevant

40. a specific, appropriate, or relevant instance or example

41. in the matter of; regarding

42. 1. to make (something) one's regular habit

    2. to do (something) because one thinks it important

43. to speak plainly and bluntly

44. at the moment immediately before a specified condition, action, etc, is expected to begin

    on the point of leaving the room

45. to gain an advantage at someone else's expense

46. 1. to make a concession or exception not usually made

    2. to exaggerate

47. pertinent; relevant

48. not completely

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verb

1. to indicate the location or direction of by or as by extending (a finger or other pointed object) towards it

   he pointed to the front door

   don't point that gun at me

2. (intr; usually foll by at or to) to indicate or identify a specific person or thing among several

   he pointed at the bottle he wanted

   all evidence pointed to Donald as the murderer

3. (tr) to direct or cause to go or face in a specific direction or towards a place or goal

   point me in the right direction

4. (tr) to sharpen or taper

5. (intr) (of gun dogs) to indicate the place where game is lying by standing rigidly with the muzzle turned in its direction

6. (tr) to finish or repair the joints of (brickwork, masonry, etc) with mortar or cement

7. (tr) music to mark (a psalm text) with vertical lines to indicate the points at which the music changes during chanting

8. to steer (a sailing vessel) close to the wind or (of a sailing vessel) to sail close to the wind

9. (tr) phonetics to provide (a letter or letters) with diacritics

10. (tr) to provide (a Hebrew or similar text) with vowel points

point Scientific  

/ point /

1. A geometric object having no dimensions and no property other than its location. The intersection of two lines is a point.

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point Cultural  

1. In geometry, a location having no dimension — no length, height, or width — and identified by at least one coordinate.

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point More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing point

• at sword's point
• at that point
• at this point
• belabor the point
• beside the point
• boiling point
• brownie points
• case in point
• get to the point
• hit the high spots (points)
• in (point of) fact
• in point
• jumping-off place (point)
• make a point of
• make one's point
• miss the point
• moot point
• on the point of
• possession is nine points of the law
• sore point
• stretch a point
• strong point
• take someone's point
• to the point
• up to a point
• win on points

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• underpoint
  noun
• underpoint
  verb (used without object)
• multipoint
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• points
  plural

Participles

• pointing
  present
• pointed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• point
  simple
• points
  simple
• have pointed
  perfect
• has pointed
  perfect
• am pointing
  progressive
• are pointing
  progressive
• is pointing
  progressive
• have been pointing
  perfect progressive
• has been pointing
  perfect progressive

Past

• pointed
  simple
• had pointed
  perfect
• was pointing
  progressive
• were pointing
  progressive
• had been pointing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will point
  simple
• will have pointed
  perfect
• will be pointing
  progressive
• will have been pointing
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of point

First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English noun point(e) ; partly from Old French point “dot, mark, place, moment,” from Latin pūnctum, noun use of neuter past participle of pungere “to prick, stab”; partly from Old French pointe “sharp end,” from Medieval Latin pūncta, noun use of Latin feminine past participle of pungere; the Middle English verb developed from the noun. Cf. pungent

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Explanation

When you go through airport security these days, you have to take anything with a point out of your carry-on bag. A point is any sharp or tapered end. A sharpened pencil has a point, as does the end of an umbrella. The noun point has a dizzying number of different definitions, including a punctuation mark, a unit of scoring in a game, a moment in time, and the essential meaning or purpose of something. Point is a verb too, meaning to gesture with your finger, to emphasize, or to make something into the shape of a point. The original meaning of point was "a dot," from the Latin pungere, "prick or pierce".

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

point points pointed pointing

"Unfortunately it's going to happen to all our children at some point in our parenting journey," she tells CBeebies Parenting Download.

From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026

Long past the point when she realized her tech didn’t work, she reassured the world that it did.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

His experience as an immigrant living in a Western country felt like he was under constant scrutiny and surveillance, to the point that it affected his personality and his stand-up.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026

Still, theater critics zinging Zacharia’s lack of polish are missing the point.

From Slate ● Oct. 15, 2026

I point to the spot on the ticket where the price is clearly displayed.

From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold

The gain in science, a relatively new test, was better still, a strong increase of 3.3 percentage points, but that brings the proficiency rate to just 36% of students.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026

ETF investors, Panigirtzoglou points out, bought into the first South Korean selloff using levered and unlevered funds, but so far in October’s Korea selloff 2.0, evidence of this buying is scant.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 15, 2026

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.1%, or 556 points, while the S&P 500 gained 0.3% and the Nasdaq composite inched 0.1% higher.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

He takes his side to Elland Road on the back of just two wins from nine games this season, placed 13th in the Premier League with six points from as many games.

From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026

No one makes as many good points in the allotted debate time as I can.

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith

The California Bankers Assn. pointed to a press release it had issued last summer in response to Newsom’s July letter.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026

Thompson pointed out that some bellwether healthcare names, like Eli Lilly, were trading near their highest levels in a year, a promising sign that healthcare stocks could continue to climb.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 15, 2026

The authors pointed particularly to Brazil's deforestation action plan and increased enforcement in the country's Amazon.

From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2026

Citigroup’s Jane Fraser pointed to the bank’s role in underwriting SK Hynix’s Nasdaq listing, which brought in $70 million in fees, and raising capital for Intel and SoftBank.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026

Sometimes, he’d simply pointed to the Tome of Ushers, expecting Clare to find the answers himself in the pages of the massive book.

From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman

The airline looks a good asset, Irving and Madre say, pointing to a “defendable geographic niche” with a key Brazil connection.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

The Reliance Industries 500325 0.79%increase; up pointing triangle unit is offering 270 million shares at a range of 1,065 rupees to 1,119 rupees each, the Indian conglomerate said late Wednesday.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

Bank of New York Mellon BNY -2.40%decrease; down pointing triangle logged higher profit and revenue in the third quarter, citing a constructive but uneven operating environment.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

With six consecutive quarters of record earnings, TSMC’s 2330 -2.01%decrease; down pointing triangle already twice-improved 2026 revenue growth outlook of “slightly above 40%” in dollar terms now looks conservative and due for another upgrade.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

“Some of us don’t have that luxury, Fitz. And, for the record, you’re right. I have exactly zero chill. Not when it comes to this,” he said, pointing at the letter.

From "Glitch" by Laura Martin

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