Point

Point, point, n. anything coming to a sharp end: the mark made by a sharp instrument: (geom.) that which has position but not length, breadth, or thickness: a mark showing the divisions of a sentence: (mus.) a dot at the right hand of a note to lengthen it by one-half: needle-point lace: a very small space: a moment of time: a small affair: a single thing: a single assertion: the precise thing to be considered: anything intended: exact place: degree: the unit of count in a game: (print.) a unit of measurement for type-bodies: an advantage: that which stings, as the point of an epigram: an imaginary relish, in 'potatoes and point:' a lively turn of thought: that which awakens attention: a peculiarity, characteristic: (cricket) the fielder standing at the immediate right of the batsman, and slightly in advance: a signal given by a trumpet: (pl.) chief or excellent features, as of a horse, &c.: the switch or movable rails which allow a train to pass from one line to another.—v.t. to give a point to: to sharpen: to aim: to direct one's attention: to punctuate, as a sentence: to fill the joints of with mortar, as a wall.—v.i. to direct the finger, the eye, or the mind towards an object: to show game by looking, as a dog.—adj. Point′ed, having a sharp point: sharp: intended for some particular person: personal: keen: telling: (archit.) having sharply-pointed arches, Gothic.—adv. Point′edly.—ns. Point′edness; Point′er, that which points: a dog trained to point out game; Point′ing, the act of sharpening: the marking of divisions in writing by points or marks: act of filling the crevices of a wall with mortar; Point′ing-stock, a thing to be pointed at, a laughing-stock; Point′-lace, a fine kind of lace wrought with the needle.—adj. Point′less, having no point: blunt: dull: wanting keenness or smartness; Points′man, a man who has charge of the points or switches on a railway; Point′-sys′tem, a standard system of sizes for type-bodies, one point being .0138 inch.—Point for point, exactly: all particulars; Point of order, a question raised in a deliberative society as to whether proceedings are according to the rules; Point of view, the position from which one looks at anything; Point out (B.), to assign; Points of the compass, the points north, south, east, and west, along with the twenty-eight smaller divisions, marked on the card of the mariner's compass.—At all points, completely; At, or On, the point of, just about to; Cardinal point (see Cardinal); Carry one's point, to gain what one contends for in controversy; From point to point, from one particular to another; Give points to, to give odds to: to give an advantageous hint on any subject; In point, apposite; In point of, with regard to; Make a point of, to attach special importance to; Stand upon points, to be over-scrupulous; Strain a point, to go beyond proper limits; To the point, appropriate. [O. Fr.,—L. punctum—pungĕre, to prick.]