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pot1

[pot]
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noun
  1. a container of earthenware, metal, etc., usually round and deep and having a handle or handles and often a lid, used for cooking, serving, and other purposes.
  2. such a container with its contents: a pot of stew.
  3. the amount contained in or held by a pot; potful.
  4. a flowerpot.
  5. a container of liquor or other drink: a pot of ale.
  6. liquor or other drink.
  7. a cagelike vessel for trapping fish, lobsters, eels, etc., typically made of wood, wicker, or wire.Compare lobster pot.
  8. a chamber pot.
  9. Metallurgy.
    1. a vessel for melting metal; melting pot.
    2. an electrolytic cell for reducing certain metals, as aluminum, from fused salts.
  10. British.
    1. chimney pot.
    2. Dialect.a basket or box used for carrying provisions or the like; a pannier.
  11. Slang. a large sum of money.
  12. all the money bet at a single time; pool.
  13. British Slang. (in horse racing) the favorite.
  14. potshot.
  15. a liquid measure, usually equal to a pint or quart.
  16. Armor.
    1. an open, broad-brimmed helmet of the 17th century.
    2. any open helmet.
  17. Slang. a potbelly.
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verb (used with object), pot·ted, pot·ting.
  1. to put into a pot.
  2. to preserve (food) in a pot.
  3. to cook in a pot.
  4. to transplant into a pot: We must pot the petunias.
  5. Hunting.
    1. to shoot (game birds) on the ground or water, or (game animals) at rest, instead of in flight or running: He can't even pot a sitting duck.
    2. to shoot for food, not for sport.
  6. Informal. to capture, secure, or win.
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verb (used without object), pot·ted, pot·ting.
  1. Informal. to take a potshot; shoot.
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Idioms
  1. go to pot, to become ruined; deteriorate: With no one to care for it, the lovely old garden went to pot.
  2. sweeten the pot. sweeten(def 8).
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Origin of pot1

1150–1200; Middle English pott (see potter1); cognate with Dutch, Low German pot (perhaps > French pot)
Related formspot·like, adjective

pot2

[pot]
noun Slang.
  1. marijuana.
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Origin of pot2

1935–40, Americanism; said to be a shortening of Mexican Spanish potiguaya or potaguaya, apparently contraction of potación de guaya wine or brandy in which marijuana buds have been steeped (literally, drink of grief)

pot3

[pot]
noun Scot. and North England.
  1. a deep hole; pit.
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Origin of pot3

1325–75; Middle English; perhaps identical with pot1

pot.

Electricity.
  1. potential.
  2. potentiometer.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

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British Dictionary definitions for pot

pot1

noun
  1. a container made of earthenware, glass, or similar material; usually round and deep, often having a handle and lid, used for cooking and other domestic purposes
  2. short for flowerpot, teapot
  3. the amount that a pot will hold; potful
  4. a chamber pot, esp a small one designed for a baby or toddler
  5. a handmade piece of pottery
  6. a large mug or tankard, as for beer
  7. Australian any of various measures used for serving beer
  8. informal a cup or trophy, esp of silver, awarded as a prize in a competition
  9. the money or stakes in the pool in gambling games, esp poker
  10. (often plural) informal a large amount, esp of money
  11. a wicker trap for catching fish, esp crustaceansa lobster pot
  12. billiards snooker a shot by which a ball is pocketed
  13. mainly British short for chimneypot
  14. US informal a joint fund created by a group of individuals or enterprises and drawn upon by them for specified purposes
  15. hunting See pot shot
  16. See potbelly
  17. go to pot to go to ruin; deteriorate
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verb pots, potting or potted (mainly tr)
  1. to set (a plant) in a flowerpot to grow
  2. to put or preserve (goods, meat, etc) in a pot
  3. to cook (food) in a pot
  4. to shoot (game) for food rather than for sport
  5. to shoot (game birds or animals) while they are on the ground or immobile rather than flying or running
  6. (also intr) to shoot casually or without careful aim at (an animal, etc)
  7. to sit (a baby or toddler) on a chamber pot
  8. (also intr) to shape clay as a potter
  9. billiards snooker to pocket (a ball)
  10. informal to capture or win; secure
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See also pot on

Word Origin

Late Old English pott, from Medieval Latin pottus (unattested), perhaps from Latin pōtus a drink; compare Middle Low German pot, Old Norse pottr

pot2

noun
    1. Scot and Northern English dialecta deep hole or pothole
    2. (capital when part of a name)Pen-y-Ghent Pot
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Word Origin

C14: perhaps identical with pot 1 but possibly of Scandinavian origin; compare Swedish dialect putt water hole, pit

pot3

noun
  1. slang cannabis used as a drug in any form, such as leaves (marijuana or hemp) or resin (hashish)
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Word Origin

C20: perhaps shortened from Mexican Indian potiguaya

pot4

noun
  1. informal short for potentiometer
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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 pot

n.1

"vessel," from late Old English pott and Old French pot "pot, container, mortar" (also in erotic senses), both from a general Low Germanic (cf. Old Frisian pott, Middle Dutch pot) and Romanic word from Vulgar Latin *pottus, of uncertain origin, said by Barnhart and OED to be unconnected to Late Latin potus "drinking cup." Celtic forms are said to be borrowed from English and French.

Slang meaning "large sum of money staked on a bet" is attested from 1823. Pot roast is from 1881; phrase go to pot (16c.) suggests cooking. In phrases, the pot calls the kettle black-arse is from c.1700; shit or get off the pot is traced by Partridge to Canadian armed forces in World War II.

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n.2

"marijuana," 1938, probably a shortened form of Mexican Spanish potiguaya "marijuana leaves."

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v.

"to put in a pot," 1610s, from pot (n.1). Related: Potted; potting. Earlier it meant "to drink from a pot" (1590s).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Idioms and Phrases with pot

pot

In addition to the idiom beginning with pot

  • pot calling the kettle black, the

also see:

  • fish or cut bait (shit or get off the pot)
  • go to pot
  • hit the jackpot
  • sweeten the kitty (pot)
  • take potluck
  • tempest in a teapot
  • watched pot never boils
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.