pointing

[ poin-ting ]

/ ˈpɔɪn tɪŋ /

Save This Word!

See synonyms for pointing on Thesaurus.com

noun

(in masonry) mortar used as a finishing touch to brickwork.

QUIZ

SPRINT TO THE FINISH WITH THIS OLYMPICS QUIZ!

Compete in our Olympics quiz to see if you can take home the gold medal in Olympics knowledge.

Question 1 of 10

Where was the Olympics first held?

ancient Rome

ancient Greece

ancient Persia

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Meet Grammar Coach

Write or paste your essay, email, or story into Grammar Coach and get grammar help

Improve Your Writing

Meet Grammar CoachImprove Your Writing

Origin of pointing

First recorded in 1835–45; point + -ing¹

OTHER WORDS FROM pointing

un·point·ing, adjective

Words nearby pointing

point guard, pointillage, pointillé, pointillism, pointillistic, pointing, pointing device, point in time, point lace, pointless, point man

How to use pointing in a sentence

That will require pointing, which means understanding the rover's current orientation on Mars' surface, which the team has inferred from the shadows cast in the first images sent down.
Perseverance on Mars: Where it is, and what the next steps are|John Timmer|February 19, 2021|Ars Technica
After the parachute falls away, the spacecraft will fire up a set of downward pointing rockets to further slow its roll.
Watch the Perseverance rover complete its dramatic landing on Mars|Charlie Wood|February 18, 2021|Popular-Science
The Oracle chairman joins other tech leaders and ultra-wealthy in leaving California, with some pointing to the state’s high taxes.
Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison joins the executive exodus from California|Claire Zillman, reporter|December 15, 2020|Fortune
But sources said that the evidence so far is pointing away from an ISIS connection.
U.S. Spies See Al Qaeda Fingerprints on Paris Massacre|Shane Harris, Nancy A. Youssef|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST

Maybe he was just pointing out that many police feel that way.
Memo to Cops: Criticisms Aren’t Attacks|Michael Tomasky|December 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Others agree, pointing out that the 2014 is not as dark a year as it may seem.
Progressives: Big Ideas Will Win Us 2016|David Freedlander|December 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Some 20 people are there when I visit, including a father with his young son, pointing to photographs of movie stars on the walls.
De Robertis, a New York Great, Bids Farewell|Lizzie Crocker|December 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“That was his idea,” says Banks, pointing across the room to Kwatinetz.
Azealia Banks Opens Up About Her Journey from Stripping to Rap Stardom|Marlow Stern|November 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Right over the stone marker, a long-shafted war-lance was carved—the blade pointing down.
Raw Gold|Bertrand W. Sinclair
Indeed this first drawing is largely a pointing out or noting down of features without any serious effort to draw them.
Children's Ways|James Sully
Over this spot he twisted all the remaining hair into a coil about four inches long, pointing slightly forward like a horn.
Our Little Korean Cousin|H. Lee M. Pike
Fagin nodded in the affirmative, and pointing in the direction of Saffron Hill, inquired whether any one was up yonder to-night.
Oliver Twist, Vol. II (of 3)|Charles Dickens
"Take those men to the guardhouse," he ordered curtly, pointing an accusing finger at Hicks and Bevans.
Raw Gold|Bertrand W. Sinclair

British Dictionary definitions for pointing

pointing

/ (ˈpɔɪntɪŋ) /

noun

the act or process of repairing or finishing joints in brickwork, masonry, etc, with mortar

the insertion of marks to indicate the chanting of a psalm or the vowels in a Hebrew text
the sequence of marks so inserted

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

pointing

Origin of pointing

OTHER WORDS FROM pointing

Words nearby pointing

Words related to pointing

How to use pointing in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for pointing