pour

[ pawr, pohr ]
See synonyms for: pourpouredpouring on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)
  1. to send (a liquid, fluid, or anything in loose particles) flowing or falling, as from one container to another, or into, over, or on something: to pour a glass of milk; to pour water on a plant.

  2. to emit or propel, especially continuously or rapidly: The hunter poured bullets into the moving object.

  1. to produce or utter in or as in a stream or flood (often followed by out): to pour out one's troubles to a friend.

verb (used without object)
  1. to issue, move, or proceed in great quantity or number: Crowds poured from the stadium after the game.

  2. to flow forth or along; stream: Floodwaters poured over the embankments.

  1. to rain heavily (often used impersonally with it as subject): It was pouring, but fortunately we had umbrellas.

noun
  1. the act of pouring.

  2. an abundant or continuous flow or stream: a pour of insults.

  1. a heavy fall of rain.

  2. a wine or other beverage: a list of the best pours.

Origin of pour

1
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English pouren; origin uncertain

Other words from pour

  • pour·a·ble, adjective
  • pour·a·bil·i·ty, noun
  • pourer, noun
  • pour·ing·ly, adverb
  • in·ter·pour, verb (used with object)
  • re·pour, verb (used with object)
  • un·pour·a·ble, adjective
  • un·poured, adjective

Words that may be confused with pour

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use pour in a sentence

  • Various impulses urged him into a pouring flood of words; yet he gave expression to none of them.

    The Wave | Algernon Blackwood
  • The capture of Independence greatly elated the guerrillas, and recruits came pouring in by the hundreds.

  • She meets a sympathetic soul, and you come across her pouring into his ear the love and despair of a lifetime.

  • “We saw the smoke pouring out of the window,” and she darted in and started up the front stairway.

  • He saw this water pouring over other dams, turning water wheels, giving power to mills and factories.

    Scattergood Baines | Clarence Budington Kelland

British Dictionary definitions for pour

pour

/ (pɔː) /


verb
  1. to flow or cause to flow in a stream

  2. (tr) to issue, emit, etc, in a profuse way

  1. Also: pour with rain (intr often foll by down) to rain heavily: it's pouring down outside

  2. (intr) to move together in large numbers; swarm

  3. (intr) to serve tea, coffee, etc: shall I pour?

  4. it never rains but it pours events, esp unfortunate ones, come together or occur in rapid succession

  5. pour cold water on informal to be unenthusiastic about or discourage

  6. pour oil on troubled waters to try to calm a quarrel, etc

noun
  1. a pouring, downpour, etc

Origin of pour

1
C13: of unknown origin

usage For pour

The verbs pour and pore are sometimes confused: she poured cream over her strudel; she pored (not poured) over the manuscript

Derived forms of pour

  • pourer, noun

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

Other Idioms and Phrases with pour

pour

In addition to the idioms beginning with pour

  • pour cold water on
  • pour oil on troubled waters
  • pour on the coal
  • pour out one's heart

also see:

  • it never rains but it pours

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.