point / point/ • n. 1. the tapered, sharp end of a tool, weapon, or other object: the point of his dagger a pencil point. ∎  Archaeol. a pointed flake or blade, esp. one that has been worked. ∎ see glazier's point. ∎  Ballet another term for pointe. ∎  Boxing the tip of a person's chin as a spot for a blow. ∎  the prong of a deer's antler.2. a dot or other punctuation mark, in particular a period. ∎  a decimal point: fifty-five point nine. ∎  a dot or small stroke used in the alphabets of Semitic languages to indicate vowels or distinguish particular consonants. ∎  a very small dot or mark on a surface: the sky was studded with points of light.3. a particular spot, place, or position in an area or on a map, object, or surface: turn left at the point where you see a sign to Apple Grove the furthermost point of the gallery the check-in point. ∎  a particular moment in time or stage in a process: from this point onward, the teacher was completely won over. ∎  (usu. the point) the critical or decisive moment: when it came to the point, he would probably do what was expected of him. ∎  (the point of) the verge or brink of (doing or being something): she was on the point of leaving. ∎  a stage or level at which a change of state occurs: it is packed to the bursting point. ∎  any of the twenty-four triangles on a backgammon board. ∎  (in geometry) something having position but not spatial extent, magnitude, dimension, or direction, for example the intersection of two lines.4. a single item or detail in an extended discussion, list, or text: you ignore a number of important points. ∎  an argument or idea put forward by a person in discussion: he made the point that economic regulation involves controls on pricing. ∎  an interesting or convincing idea: you must admit he does have a point. ∎  (usu. the point) the significant or essential element of what is intended or being discussed: it took her a long time to come to the point. ∎  advantage or purpose that can be gained from doing something: there was no point in denying the truth what's the point of having things I don't need? ∎  relevance or effectiveness. ∎  a distinctive feature or characteristic, typically a good one, of a person or thing: he has his good points.5. (in sports and games) a mark or unit of scoring: he scored 13 of his team's final 19 points against Houston. ∎  (in craps) the combination total of the two thrown dice (4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10) that permits a shooter to keep throwing until the shooter throws the same number again and wins. ∎  a unit used in measuring value, achievement, or extent: the shares index was down seven points. ∎  an advantage or success in an argument or discussion: she smiled, assuming she had won her point. ∎  a unit of credit toward an award or benefit. ∎  a percentage of the profits from a movie or recording offered to certain people involved in its production. ∎  a punishment awarded by the courts for a driving offense and recorded cumulatively on a person's driver’s license: operating under the influence meant ten points marked up against the driver. ∎  a unit of weight (one hundredth of a carat, or 2 mg) for diamonds. ∎  a unit of varying value, used in quoting the price of stocks, bonds, or futures. ∎  Bridge a value assigned to certain cards (4 points for an ace, 3 for a king, 2 for a queen, and 1 for a jack, sometimes with extra points for long or short suits) by a player in assessing the strength of a hand. ∎  (point of) (in piquet) the longest suit in a player's hand, containing a specified number of up to eight cards.6. each of thirty-two directions marked at equal distances around a compass. ∎  the corresponding direction toward the horizon. ∎  the angular interval between two successive points of a compass, i.e., one eighth of a right angle (11° 15′). ∎  (points ——) unspecified places considered in terms of their direction from a specified place: they headed down I-95 to Philadelphia and points south.7. a narrow piece of land jutting out into a lake or ocean: the boat came around the point | [in names] Sandy Point. 8. Printing a unit of measurement for type sizes and spacing, which in the U.S. and UK is one twelfth of a pica, or 0.013835 inch (0.351 mm), and in Europe is 0.015 inch (0.376 mm).9. Basketball a frontcourt position, usually manned by the guard who sets up the team’s defense. ∎  Ice Hockey either of two areas in each attacking zone, just inside the blue line where it meets the boards.10. (usu. points) each of a set of electrical contacts in the distributor of a motor vehicle.11. a small leading party of an advanced guard of troops. ∎  the position at the head of a column or wedge of troops: another marine said he would walk point because I had done it on the last patrol. ∎ short for point man.12. (usu. points) the extremities of an animal, typically a horse or cat, such as the face, paws, and tail of a Siamese cat.13. Hunting a spot to which a straight run is made. ∎  a run of this type: our fox made his point to Moorhill.14. (usu. points) hist. a tagged piece of ribbon or cord used for lacing a garment or attaching breeches to a doublet.15. a short piece of cord for tying up a reef in a sail.16. the action or position of a dog in pointing: a bird dog on point.17. Mus. an important phrase or subject, esp. in a contrapuntal composition. Compare with counterpoint.• v. 1. [intr.] direct someone's attention to the position or direction of something, typically by extending one's finger: the boys were nudging each other and pointing at me he gripped her arm and pointed to the seat it's rude to point. ∎  indicate a particular time, direction, or reading: a sign pointing left. ∎  [tr.] direct or aim (something) at someone or something: he pointed the flashlight beam at the floor. ∎  face or be turned in a particular direction: two of its toes point forward and two point back. ∎  cite or put forward a fact or situation as evidence of something: he points to several factors supporting this conclusion. ∎  (point to) (of a situation) be evidence or an indication that (something) is likely to happen or be the case: everything pointed to an eastern attack. ∎  [tr.] (of a dog) indicate the presence of (game) by acting as pointer. ∎  [tr.] chiefly Ballet extend (the toes or feet) by tensing the foot and ankle so as to form a point.2. [tr.] give force or emphasis to (words or actions): he wouldn't miss the opportunity to point a moral. ∎  (point something up) reveal the true nature or importance of something: he did so much to point up their plight in the 1960s.3. [tr.] fill in or repair the joints of (brickwork, a brick structure, or tiling) with smoothly finished mortar or cement.4. [tr.] give a sharp, tapered point to: he twisted and pointed his mustache.5. [tr.] insert points in (written Hebrew). ∎  mark (Psalms) with signs for chanting.6. [intr.] Naut. (of a sailing vessel) sail close to the wind.PHRASES: beside the point irrelevant.case in point an instance or example that illustrates what is being discussed: the “green revolution” in agriculture is a good case in point.get the point understand or accept the validity of someone's idea or argument: I get the point about not sending rejections.in point of factsee fact.make one's point put across a proposition clearly and convincingly.make a point of make a special and noticeable effort to do (a specified thing): she made a point of taking a walk each day.off the point irrelevant.point the finger openly accuse someone or apportion blame.the point of no return the point in a journey or enterprise at which it becomes essential or more practical to continue to the end instead of returning to the point of departure.point of sailing a sailboat's heading in relation to the wind.score points deliberately make oneself appear superior to someone else by making clever remarks: she was constantly trying to think of ways to score points off him.take someone's point chiefly Brit. accept the validity of someone's idea or argument.to the point relevant: his evidence was brief and to the point.up to a point to some extent but not completely.win on points Boxing win by scoring more points than one's opponent (as awarded by the judges and/or the referee) rather than by a knockout.PHRASAL VERBS: point something out direct someone's gaze or attention toward something, esp. by extending one's finger. ∎  say something to make someone aware of a fact or circumstance: she pointed out that his van had been in the parking lot all day | [with direct speech] “Most of the people around here are very poor,” I pointed out. ORIGIN: Middle English: the noun partly from Old French point, from Latin punctum ‘something that is pricked,’ giving rise to the senses ‘unit, mark, point in space or time’; partly from Old French pointe, from Latin puncta ‘pricking,’ giving rise to the senses ‘sharp tip, promontory.’ The verb is from Old French pointer, and in some senses from the English noun.

POINT.
1. The sign (.), in WRITING made with the point of a pen or pencil, known as a period, full stop, or full point when used to close a sentence that expresses a statement, including elliptical sentences and SENTENCE fragments, as in: They did not want to refuse. They didn't want to. On the contrary. The point marks the close of, or elements in, many ABBREVIATIONS (Thurs., Cen., a.m., B.B.C.) and follows INITIAL letters, as with the M in William M. Thackeray. It is, however, increasingly omitted in INITIALISMS (BBC, GMT), almost always omitted in ACRONYMS (Nato, yuppie), and, especially in BrE, generally omitted in abbreviations such as Mr and Dr. A set of ELLIPSIS POINTS is used to mark gaps in writing, especially words omitted from a quotation, as in: ‘All the business of war, and indeed all the business of life, is to endeavour to find out what you don't know’ reduced to ‘All the business of war … is to … find out what you don't know’ (quoting the Duke of Wellington, Croker Papers, 1885). When such points are used to mark a pause, they are called suspension points, as in Tell him, uh … to wait a moment.

2. Also decimal point. The sign (˙) or (·) used in decimal numbers, as in 2.22 or 2·22. Compare the decimal comma in Continental European practice, as in 2,22.

3. A periodic sentence.

4. In phonetics and orthography, a diacritical mark with various values: for example, in the modern transcription of Old English, sometimes placed above the letter c to indicate that it is pronounced ‘ch’ as in church, in such words as ċild (child) and ċiriċe (church). See DIACRITIC, DOT, PUNCTUATION.

point
A. minute part or particle XIII; small mark, dot; precise position, time, fact, or quality XIV;

B. sharp end XIV. In A — (O)F. point, in B — (O)F. pointe, repr. respectively L. punctum, sb. use of n. pp. of pungere prick, pierce, and Rom. (medL.) puncta, corr. use of the fem pp.
So point vb. XIV. Partly — (O)F. pointer, partly f. the sb.; hence pointer in techn. uses from c. 1500; rod to point with XVII; dog that indicates position of game XVIII. Comp. point-blank direct (horizontal) aim or range; also adj. and adv. XVI. of unkn. orig., but presumed to involve the sb. blank ‘white spot in a target’.

POINT

A distinct proposition orquestion of lawarising or propounded in a case. In the case of sharesof stock, a point means $1. In the case of bonds a point means $10, since a bond is quoted as a percentage of $1,000. In the case of market averages, the word point means merely that and no more. If, for example, the Dow-Jones Industrial Average rises from 8,349.25 to 8,350.25, it has risen a point. A point in this average, however, is not equivalent to $1.

With respect to the home mortgage finance industry, a fee or charge of one percent of the principal of the loan that is collected by the lender at the time the loan is made and is in addition to the constant long-term stated interest rate on the face of the loan.

point
1. To move the cursor on a screen until it reaches the desired position, item, etc. See pointing device.

2. To indicate the storage location of an item of data. See pointer.

3. The unit of measurement for font size. See font.