- Railway track having two movable rails and necessary connections; used to turn a train from one track to another or to store rolling stock
"The train switched to a different line at the points";
- switch [N. Amer]
- Sharp end
"he stuck the point of the knife into a tree"; "he broke the point of his pencil"
- The precise location of something; a spatially limited location
"she walked to a point where she could survey the whole street"
- A specific identifiable position in a continuum, series or especially in a process
"a remarkable point of frankness";
- degree, level, stage, phasis, phase
- A brief version of the essential meaning of something
"life has lost its point"; "get to the point"; "he missed the point of the joke"
- An isolated fact that is considered separately from the whole
"a point of information";
- detail, item
- An instant of time
"at that point I had to leave";
- point in time
- The object of an activity
"what is the point of discussing it?"
- A geometric element that has position but no extension
"a point is defined by its coordinates"
- The unit of counting in scoring a game or contest
"he scored 20 points in the first half"; "a touchdown counts 6 points"
- A forceful or telling quality in expression or argument
"Her argument had point and precision"
- An outstanding characteristic
"his acting was one of the high points of the movie";
- spot
- A V shape
"the cannibal's teeth were filed to sharp points";
- tip, peak
- A very small circular shape
"a row of points";
- dot
- A promontory extending out into a large body of water
"they sailed south around the point"
- A distinct part that can be specified separately in a group of things that could be enumerated on a list
"the main point on the agenda was taken up first";
- item
- Any of 32 horizontal directions indicated on the card of a compass
"he checked the point on his compass";
- compass point
- A linear unit used to measure the size of type; approximately 1/72 inch
"The contract specified that the text should be in 12-point font"
- One percent of the total principal of a loan; it is paid at the time the loan is made and is independent of the interest on the loan
"The mortgage broker charged two points on the home loan"
- A punctuation mark (‘.’) placed at the end of a declarative sentence to indicate a full stop or after abbreviations
"In British English, 'full stop' is used instead of 'point'";
- period, full stop, stop, full point [Brit, rare]
- A V-shaped mark at one end of an arrow pointer
"the point of the arrow was due north";
- head
- The dot at the left of a decimal fraction
"In the number 3.14, the decimal point separates the whole number from the fractional part";
- decimal point
- The property of a shape that tapers to a sharp tip
"The point of the needle made it easy to thread";
- pointedness
- A distinguishing or individuating characteristic
"he knows my bad points as well as my good points"
- The gun muzzle's direction
"he held me up at the point of a gun";
- gunpoint
- [Brit] A wall socket
"He plugged the charger into the power point";
- power point [Brit]
- A contact in the distributor; as the rotor turns its projecting arm contacts them and current flows to the spark plugs
"The worn distributor points were causing the engine to run roughly";
- distributor point, breaker point
- Identify or make clear which place, direction, person, or thing is meant
"He pointed to the empty parking space";
- indicate, designate, show
- Be oriented in a particular direction
"The weather vane points North"; "the dancers toes pointed outward";
- orient
- Direct into a position for use
"point a gun";
- charge, level
- Control or determine the movement, direction, or course of something
"The captain pointed the ship through the strait";
- steer, maneuver [US], manoeuvre [Brit, Cdn], direct, head, guide, channelize, channelise [Brit]
- Be a signal for or a symptom of
"Her behaviour points to a severe neurosis";
- bespeak, betoken [archaic], indicate, signal
- Sail close to the wind
"The skilled sailor pointed the boat to gain speed";
- luff
- Mark with diacritics
"point the letter"
- Mark (a psalm text) to indicate the points at which the music changes
"The choirmaster pointed the psalm for the singers"
- Be positionable in a specified manner
"The gun points with ease"
- Intend (something) to move towards a certain goal, or direct to a specific place or group of people
"He pointed his fists towards his opponent's face";
- target, aim, place, direct
- Indicate the presence of (game) by standing and pointing with the muzzle
"the dog pointed the dead duck"
- Give a point to
"He pointed his pencil before the test";
- sharpen, taper
- Repair the joints of bricks
"point a chimney";
- repoint
Derived forms: pointses
See also: fizzle
Type of: aim, amount, be, bushel [US], change form, change shape, characteristic, command, component, component part, constituent, contact, control, convex shape, convexity, deform, direct, direction, disc, disk [N. Amer], doctor [informal], electric outlet, electric receptacle, electrical outlet, element, end, fact, factor, fix, foreland, gun muzzle, head, headland, import, inform, ingredient, label, lie, linear measure, linear unit, loan, location, mark, mathematical notation, meaning, measure, mend, muzzle, object, objective, outlet, part, portion, promontory, punctuation, punctuation mark [Brit], quantity, railroad [N. Amer], railroad track [N. Amer], railway [Brit, Cdn], railway track [Brit, Cdn], relevance, relevancy, repair, sail, saucer, significance, signification, state, tag, take, take aim, tangency, taper, target, tell, terminal, train, unit, unit of measurement, wall plug, wall socket
Part of: alpenstock, arrow, arrowhead, awl, blade, brand, cone, cone shape, conoid, distributer, distributor, electrical distributor, em, ice pick, icepick, knife, list, listing, needle, pencil, pica, pica em, pin, pointer, score, steel, sword
Encyclopedia: Points, West Virginia
Point, Sittwe