• Pour

    Pronunciation

    • UK enPR: pô(r), IPA: /pɔː(ɹ)/
    • US enPR: pôr, IPA: /pɔɹ/, /poʊɹ/
    • Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)
    • Homophones: poor, pore
    • Homophones: paw in non-rhotic accents

    Origin

    From Middle English pouren, pouren ("to pour"). Origin uncertain. Likely of origin, from Celtic base *purr- ("to jerk, throw (water)"). Akin to Welsh bwrw ("to cast; to strike; to rain"), Scottish Gaelic purr ("to push, thrust, urge, drive"), Irish purraim ("I push, I jerk").

    Displaced native Middle English schenchen, schenken ("to pour") (from Old English scencan ("to pour out")), ȝeoten, yetten ("to pour") (from Old English ġēotan ("to pour")), temen ("to pour out, empty") (from Old Norse tǿma ("to pour out, empty")), birlen ("to pour, serve drink to") (from Old English byrelian ("to pour, serve drink to")), hellen ("to pour, pour out") (from Old Norse hella ("to pour out, incline")).

    Full definition of pour

    Verb

    1. (transitive) To cause to flow in a stream, as a liquid or anything flowing like a liquid, either out of a vessel or into it.
      to pour water from a pail;  to pour wine into a decanter;  to pour oil upon the waters;  to pour out sand or dust.
    2. (transitive) To send forth as in a stream or a flood; to emit; to let escape freely or wholly.
      • The Bible, 1 Samuel i. 15.I...have poured out my soul before the Lord.
      • The Bible, Ezekiel vii. 8Now will I shortly pour out my fury upon thee.
      • William ShakespeareLondon doth pour out her citizens!
      • John MiltonWherefore did Nature pour her bounties forth With such a full and unwithdrawing hand?
      • 2013-08-10, Can China clean up fast enough?, At the same time, it is pouring money into cleaning up the country.
    3. (transitive) To send forth from, as in a stream; to discharge uninterruptedly.
      • A. PopeIs it for thee the linnet pours his throat?
    4. (intransitive) To flow, pass or issue in or as a stream; to fall continuously and abundantly; as, the rain pours.
      • GayIn the rude throng pour on with furious pace.
      • 2011, January 8, Chris Bevan, Arsenal 1-1 Leeds, In a breathless finish Arsenal poured forward looking for a winner but Leeds held out for a deserved replay after Bendtner wastefully fired wide and Schmeichel acrobatically kept out Denilson's rasping effort
    5. The people poured out of the theater.

    Synonyms

    Derived terms

    Noun

    pour

    (plural pours)
    1. The act of pouring.
    2. Something, or an amount, poured.
      • 2003, John Brian Newman, B. S. Choo, Advanced concrete technology: Volume 2Over this time period, the first concrete pour has not only lost workability but has started to set so that it is no longer affected by the action of a vibrator.
    3. (colloquial) A stream, or something like a stream; especially a flood of precipitation.A pour of rain. --Miss Ferrier.

    Anagrams

    © Wiktionary
    • © 2013 - 2023 All Rights Reserved