Point

1. An item of private information; a hint; a tip; a pointer.
2. To give a point to; to sharpen; to cut, forge, grind, or file to an acute end; as, to point a dart, or a pencil. Used also figuratively; as, to point a moral.
3. Hence, the most prominent or important feature, as of an argument, discourse, etc.; the essential matter; esp., the proposition to be established; as, the point of an anecdote.
4. To direct the point of something, as of a finger, for the purpose of designating an object, and attracting attention to it; -- with at.
5. Hence, to direct the attention or notice of.
6. A dot or mark distinguishing or characterizing certain tones or styles; as, points of perfection, of augmentation, etc.; hence, a note; a tune.
7. An instrument which pricks or pierces, as a sort of needle used by engravers, etchers, lace workers, and others; also, a pointed cutting tool, as a stone cutter's point; -- called also pointer.
8. To supply with punctuation marks; to punctuate; as, to point a composition.
9. A short piece of cordage used in reefing sails. See Reef point, under Reef.
10. To fill up and finish the joints of (a wall), by introducing additional cement or mortar, and bringing it to a smooth surface.
11. The mark made by the end of a sharp, piercing instrument, as a needle; a prick.
12. The attitude assumed by a pointer dog when he finds game; as, the dog came to a point. See Pointer.
13. To give particular prominence to; to designate in a special manner; to indicate, as if by pointing; as, the error was pointed out.
14. To indicate the presence of game by fixed and steady look, as certain hunting dogs do.
15. An indefinitely small space; a mere spot indicated or supposed. Specifically: (Geom.) That which has neither parts nor magnitude; that which has position, but has neither length, breadth, nor thickness, -- sometimes conceived of as the limit of a line; that by the motion of which a line is conceived to be produced.
16. One of the points of the compass (see Points of the compass, below); also, the difference between two points of the compass; as, to fall off a point.
17. To indicate or discover by a fixed look, as game.
18. A mark of punctuation; a character used to mark the divisions of a composition, or the pauses to be observed in reading, or to point off groups of figures, etc.; a stop, as a comma, a semicolon, and esp. a period; hence, figuratively, an end, or conclusion.
19. To approximate to the surface; to head; -- said of an abscess.
20. A movement executed with the saber or foil; as, tierce point.
21. That which arrests attention, or indicates qualities or character; a salient feature; a characteristic; a peculiarity; hence, a particular; an item; a detail; as, the good or bad points of a man, a horse, a book, a story, etc.
22. A fixed conventional place for reference, or zero of reckoning, in the heavens, usually the intersection of two or more great circles of the sphere, and named specifically in each case according to the position intended; as, the equinoctial points; the solstitial points; the nodal points; vertical points, etc. See Equinoctial Nodal.
23. An indivisible portion of time; a moment; an instant; hence, the verge.
24. A dot placed at the right hand of a note, to raise its value, or prolong its time, by one half, as to make a whole note equal to three half notes, a half note equal to three quarter notes.
25. To direct toward an abject; to aim; as, to point a gun at a wolf, or a cannon at a fort.
26. A a string or lace used to tie together certain parts of the dress.
27. One of the spaces on a backgammon board.
28. A standard unit of measure for the size of type bodies, being one twelfth of the thickness of pica type. See Point system of type, under Type.
29. To mark (as Hebrew) with vowel points.
30. One of the several different parts of the escutcheon. See Escutcheon.
31. To appoint.
32. A small matter; a trifle; a least consideration; a punctilio.
33. Anything which tapers to a sharp, well-defined termination. Specifically: A small promontory or cape; a tract of land extending into the water beyond the common shore line.
34. A tyne or snag of an antler.
35. To cut, as a surface, with a pointed tool.
36. A switch.
37. Lace wrought the needle; as, point de Venise; Brussels point. See Point lace, below.
38. A dot or mark used to designate certain tones or time
39. A fielder who is stationed on the off side, about twelve or fifteen yards from, and a little in advance of, the batsman.
40. That which pricks or pierces; the sharp end of anything, esp. the sharp end of a piercing instrument, as a needle or a pin.
41. Whatever serves to mark progress, rank, or relative position, or to indicate a transition from one state or position to another, degree; step; stage; hence, position or condition attained; as, a point of elevation, or of depression; the stock fell off five points; he won by tenpoints.