point

Something tiny, as a pinprick; a very small mark.

A full stop or other terminal punctuation mark.

• Commas and points they set exactly right. - 1735, Alexander Pope, The Prologue to the Satires:

(mathematics) A decimal point (now especially when reading decimal fractions aloud).

• 10.5 is "ten point five", or ten and a half.
• 0.375 cm is nought point three seven five of a centimeter.

Each of the marks or strokes written above letters, especially in Semitic languages, to indicate vowels, stress etc.

(music) A dot or mark used to designate certain tones or time. In ancient music, it distinguished or characterized certain tones or styles (points of perfection, of augmentation, etc.). In modern music, it is placed on the right of a note to raise its value, or prolong its time, by one half.

(by extension) A note; a tune.

• Sound the trumpet — not a levant, or a flourish, but a point of war. - 1826, [Walter Scott], Woodstock; Or, The Cavalier. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for...

(mathematics, sciences) A zero-dimensional mathematical object representing a location in one or more dimensions; something considered to have position but no magnitude or direction.

An individual element in a larger whole; a particular detail, thought, or quality.

A particular moment in an event or occurrence; a juncture.

• There comes a point in a marathon when some people give up.
• At this point in the meeting, I'd like to propose a new item for the agenda.

(archaic) Condition, state.

• She was not feeling in good point.

A topic of discussion or debate; a proposition; a count

• I made the point that we all had an interest to protect.

(US, slang, dated) An item of private information; a hint; a tip; a pointer.

A focus of conversation or consideration; the main idea.

• The point is that we should stay together, whatever happens.

A purpose or objective, which makes something meaningful.

• Since the decision has already been made, I see little point in further discussion.
• I told him about everything I could think of; and what I couldn't think of he did. He asked about six questions during my yarn, but every question had a point to it. At the end he bowed and thanked me once more. As a...
• But I love you / More than I wanted to / There's no point in trying to pretend - 1983 October 31, Genesis, “That's All”, in Genesis:

(obsolete) The smallest quantity of something; a jot, a whit.

• full large of limbe and euery ioint / He was, and cared not for God or man a point. - 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, I.ii:

(obsolete) A tiny amount of time; a moment.

• When time's first point begun / Made he all souls. - 1599, John Davies, “Of the Soule of Man and the Immortalitie Thereof”, in Nosce Teipsum:

A specific location or place, seen as a spatial position.

• We should meet at a pre-arranged point.

A distinguishing quality or characteristic.

• Logic isn't my strong point.

(in the plural, dated) The chief or excellent features.

• the points of a horse
• Knowledge was always useful, and he had frequently heard the words 'Great Portland Street' on the lips of his son, who regularly perused all the twelve automobilistic papers, and who was apparently the most learned...

(usually in the plural) An area of contrasting colour on an animal, especially a dog; a marking.

• The point color of that cat was a deep, rich sable.

(now only in phrases) A tenth; formerly also a twelfth.

• Possession is nine points of the law.

Ellipsis of percentage point.

• We have yet to touch on the idea of stars and directors receiving gross points, which is a percentage of the studio's gross dollar (e.g., the $5.00 studio share of the total box office dollar in Table 4.1). Even if the...

(sports, video games, board games) A unit of scoring in a game or competition.

• The one with the most points will win the game.

(video games, board games) A unit of various numerical parameters used in a game, e.g. health, experience, stamina, mana.

• This attack deals 320 points of damage.
• Defeating the boss grants 60 experience points.

(economics) A unit used to express differences in prices of stocks and shares.

(typography) A unit of measure equal to 1/12 of a pica, or approximately 1/72 of an inch (exactly 1/72 of an inch in the digital era).

(UK) An electric power socket.

(navigation, nautical) A unit of bearing equal to one thirty-second of a circle, i.e. 11.25°.

• Ship ahoy, three points off the starboard bow!

(UK) A unit of measure for rain, equal to 0.254 mm or 0.01 of an inch.

(automotive, chiefly in the plural) Either of the two metal surfaces in a distributor which close or open to allow or prevent the flow of current through the ignition coil. There is usually a moving point, pushed by the distributor cam, and a fixed point, and they are built together as a unit.

The sharp tip of an object.

Any projecting extremity of an object.

An object which has a sharp or tapering tip.

• His cowboy belt was studded with points.

An object which has a sharp or tapering tip.

(archaeology) A spearhead or similar object hafted to a handle.

• Solutrean points resemble the canines of the sabre-toothed cats. - 2018, Tim Flannery, Europe: A Natural History:

An object which has a sharp or tapering tip.

(medicine, obsolete) A vaccine point.

(backgammon) Each of the twelve triangular positions in either table of a backgammon board, on which the stones are played.

A peninsula or promontory.

The position at the front or vanguard of an advancing force.

• Willie Jones decided to become Kimani Jones, Black Panther, on the day his best friend, Otis Nicholson, stepped on a mine while walking point during a sweep in the central highlands. - 2004, Martin Torgoff, “Next Stop...

The position at the front or vanguard of an advancing force.

(by extension) An operational or public leadership position in a risky endeavor.

• "When do we pull the trigger?" he asked. I was quick to respond, "If Tammy get's Mrs. Wellington to agree, she'll call you in a couple hours. Then just pull out all stops. Tammy has point on this, I don't want to hear...
• The president’s senior policy adviser, Stephen Miller, has been point on immigration policy. - 2018 July 2, Paul Winfree, “Trump’s economic agenda is unfocused. Here’s how to fix it.”, in Washington Post:
• He captained Regis High School’s 1958 squad, but now runs point on infectious diseases. - 2020 July 23, Gabe Lacques, “Dr. Anthony Fauci throws first pitch at Nationals-Yankees MLB opener”, in USA TODAY:

The position at the front or vanguard of an advancing force.

Ellipsis of point man.

Each of the main directions on a compass, usually considered to be 32 in number; a direction.

(nautical) The difference between two points of the compass.

• to fall off a point

Pointedness of speech or writing; a penetrating or decisive quality of expression.

• There was moreover a hint of the duchess in the infinite point with which, as she felt, she exclaimed: "And this is what you call coming often?" - 1897, Henry James, What Maisie Knew:
• And with an emphatic nod to give point to her self-possession Mrs. Larch vanished. - 1934, Ernest Bramah, The Bravo of London:

(rail transport, UK, in the plural) A railroad switch.

A tine or snag of an antler.

(heraldry) One of the "corners" of the escutcheon: the base (bottom center) unless a qualifier is added (point dexter, point dexter base, point sinister, point sinister base), generally when separately tinctured. (Compare terrace, point champaine, enté en point.)

(heraldry, by extension) An ordinary similar to a pile (but sometimes shorter), extending upward from the base. (Often termed a point pointed.)

• The point, according to Edmondson, (meaning the point pointed,) is an ordinary somewhat resembling the pile, issuing from the base, as in Plate VII. fig. 24, and is sometimes termed a base point pointed, but the word...

The act of pointing, as of the foot downward in certain dance positions.

The gesture of extending the index finger in a direction in order to indicate something.

• […] DCDP children are exposed to more points and gesturelike signs in their linguistic environment […] - 2005, Marc Marschark, Patricia Elizabeth Spencer, Oxford handbook of deaf studies, language, and education:

The attitude assumed by a pointer dog when he finds game.

• The dog came to a point.

(falconry) The perpendicular rising of a hawk over the place where its prey has gone into cover.

(fencing) A movement executed with the sabre or foil.

• tierce point

(cricket, countable, uncountable) A fielding position square of the wicket on the off side, between gully and cover.

(lacrosse, ice hockey, countable, uncountable) The position of the player of each side who stands a short distance in front of the goalkeeper.

(baseball, countable, uncountable) The position of the pitcher and catcher.

(hunting) A spot to which a straight run is made; hence, a straight run from point to point; a cross-country run.