point 
4583 
You know, quoth I, that in F.llas' time, both In Israel 
and elsewhere, ( lull's church was not pointable ; and there- 
fore cried he out that he was left alonf. 
J. Bradford, Works (Parker Soc.), I. 552. (Damet.) 
[< F. pointal, strut, gir- 
oint 
Arr. What will you do, Philaster, with yourself? 
Phil. Why, that which all the gods have pointed out for 
mo- Beau, and PI., Philaster, I. 2. 
And will ye be sae kind, fair may. 
As come out and point my way ' 
The- Broom of Cowdenknowt (Child's Ballads, IV. 48). 
What a generous ambition has this man i pointed to us ! 
Steele, "Hitler, No. 251. 
7. To indicate the purpose or point of. 
If he means this ironically, it may be truer than he 
thinks He pointi it, however, by no deviation from his ' . . , , 
straightforward manner of speech. Dickens. Point-blank (point blangk ), H. [< F. 
8. To give in detail ; recount the particulars of. bl "" e > . w ' lite ."P 01 : P int < P int ' bla nt, 
Of what wight that gtant In swlch dlsjoynte \ e f' nt ? *' < ""'-J . 1. A direct shot: 
His wordes alle or every look to poynte. wlth dlrect aim ' a point-blank shot. 
Chaucer, Troilus, Hi. 487. Against a gun more than as long and as heavy **", 
0. In masonry, to fill the joints of (brickwork or "" d ^T? 1 with " " ulch P w<ter *"'. *> carried the 
stonework) with mortar. Id smooth SS^S ^ n A^u& a ^^^ nearer ' nd above 
Pepyt, Diary, IV. 158. 
2. The second point (that is, that furthest from 
the piece) at which the line of sight intersects 
the trajectory of a projectile. 
When the natural line of sight Is horizontal, the point 
where the projectile first strikes the horizontal plane on 
which the gun stands is the point-blank, and the distance 
to the point blank I* the point-blank range. 
If. S. Army Taetir*. 
stonework) with mortar, and smooth them with 
the point of a trowel : as, to point a wall : often 
with up. 
Point all their chinky lodgings round with mud. 
Additon, tr. of Virgil's Ueorgics, iv. 
10. To give a point to; sharpen; forge, grind, 
file, or cut to a point : as, to point a dart or a pin ; 
also, to taper, as a rope (see below). Hence 
11. Figuratively, to give point, piquancy, or 
vivacity to ; add to the force or expression of. 
There Is a kind of drama in the forming of a story and PlHt-blank ( point ' lilaugk' ), adv. [An ellipsis 
the manner of conducting and pointing It is the same as ot Ht point-blank.] Directly; straight; with- 
in an epigram. Steele, fiuardian. No. 44, out deviation or Circumlocution. 
Beauty with early bloom supplies 
Her daughter's cheek, and point* her eyes. (jay. 
He left the name at which the world grew pale 
To point a moral or adorn a tale. 
Johnton, Vanity of Human Wishes, I. 2Si 
With Joys she'd griefs, had troubles in her course. 
But not one grief w& painted by remorse. 
Cmlilx-, Works. I. na. 
To point a rope, to taper a rope at the end, as by taking 
out a few of its yarns, and with these working a mat over 
It, for neatness, and for convenience In reeving through 
block. -To point a sail, to rig points through the eye- 
let-holes of the reefs in the sail. (Rare. I To point the 
leaders, in four-in-hand rfnn ? , to give the leaders an point-blank (point 'blangk'), . 
n. and adv.] 1. In gun., having a horizontal 
direction: as, a pwnt-blniik shot. In point-blank 
shooting the ball in supposed to move directly toward the 
object without describing an appreciable curve. 
2. Direct ; plain ; explicit ; express : as, a point- 
blank denial. Point-blank range, the distance to 
which a shot is reckoned U) range straight, without appre- 
ciably drooping from the force of gravity. 
The difference between the proper method of shooting 
at short, that is point blanr, range, and that of shooting at 
the great distances used in the York Round, is radical. 
Tills boy will rarry a letter twenty mile as easy as can- 
non will shoot point-blank twelve score. 
Shot., M. W. of W., iii. 2. 34. 
Then- Is no defending nf the Fact ; for the Law is point- 
NniJc against it. 
A". Kailrii, tr. of Colloquies of Erasmus, I. 408. 
Pointl^ank, directly, as, an arrow Is shot to the point- 
blank or while mark. Johiaini. 
7 > ot 4 n/-ManJr,positiveinent, directemeiit|F. ; Recta ad sco- 
pum, directis verbis |U|. Bailry. 
Philip hns contradicted him point blank, until Mr Hob- 
day turned quite red. Thackeray, Philip, xxii 
Intimation with the reins that they L 
To point the yards of a vessel, to brace the yards up 
sharp: often done when steaming, to expose less surface 
to the wind. 
II. intrans. 1. To indicate direction or di- 
rect attention with or as with the finger. 
They are portentous things 
Unto the climate that they point, upon. 
Shak.,,1. ('., I. a 32. 
This fable seemn to point at the secrets of nature. 
Bacon, Physical Fables, vIL, Expl. 
Their neighbors scorn them, Strangers poi/nt at them. 
' ' T, Seven Deadly Sins, p. 15. 
, . 
M. aiut W. Thomptan, Archery, p. 1. 
Thus having sumarilypmnjcd at things w<* M'. Brewster point-Circle (point'ser'kl), it. A point consid- 
(I thlnke) hath more largly write of to M'. Robinson, I ered as an infinitesimal circle, 
leave you to the Lords protection. point-C06rdinate (point'ko-or'di-nnt), n. One 
of a system of coordinates of points. 
Ctuhman, quoted In Bradford 'a Plymouth Plantation, p. 38. 
2. To lead or direct the eye or the mind in some point-devicet, point-deviset (point'de-vis'), >' 
specified direction: with to: as, everything [< tE. point derjys : see point and device. No 
points to his guilt; to point with pride to one's f)F. form of the term appears.] Used only in 
**n/>rti*j-l l f 11 __!__ _. __1 
record. 
None of these names ran be recognised, bnt they point 
to an age when foreign kings, possibly of the Punjab, ruled 
this country by satraps. 
J. Fergustmn, Hist. Indian Arch., p. 151. 
How Latin, together with Greek, the Celtic, the Ten- 
tonic, and Slavonic languages, together likewise with the 
ancient dialects of India and Persia, point* back to an 
earlier language, the -Mother, if we so may call it, of the 
whole Indo-European or Aryan family of speech. 
Macniillan's Mag., I. 35. 
Everything pointed to a struggle that night or early next 
morning. CornhUl Mag., Oct., 1888. 
3. To indicate the presence of game by stand- 
tlio following phraseAt point-device, exactly: 
particularly; carefully; nicely. 
Whan that the flrste cok hath crowe anon, 
l"p rist this joly lovcre Alnolon, 
And him arraleth gay, at poytit decyt. 
Chaucer, Miller's Tale. L 503. 
Hym self araiyd atte poynte-derfae. 
Qenerydet (E. E. T. &), I. 3307. 
So noble he was of stature, 
So falre, so joly, and so fetys, 
With lymes wrought at poynt depun, 
Delyver, smert, anil of grete myght, 
Ne sawe Uiou nevere man so lyght 
Rom. nf the Roe,\.*:< 
ing in a stiff position, with the muzzle directed point-devicet (point'de-vis'), adv. [By ellij>- 
toward the game. See pointer, 1 (c). 4. To sis from at point device?] Same as at point-dt- 
sho\v positively by any means. 
rice (which see, under point-derice, n.). 
The wenche she was full proper nyce, 
Amonge all other she hare great price, 
For sche coude tricke it point deriee, 
But fewe like her in that countree. 
The. Miller of Abington. (HallimU. ) 
an abscess when it ajvproaches the surface and point-device (point'de-vis'), a. [< point-device, 
is about to burst. 6. In printing, to make nrfr.] Precise; nice; finical; scrupulously neat, 
point-holes in the operation of printing, or to [Obsolete or archaic.] 
attach printed sheets on previously made point- 
holes ; in bookbinding, to put printed sheets on 
pointing-needles. 
point'-t (point), v. t. [By apheresis from ap- 
lioint.] To appoint. 
First to his Gat* he pointed a strong gard. 
Speraer, Mother Hub. Tale, 1. 1115. 
But this t<i lie, if yon do not point any of the lower rooms 
for a dining place for servants. Bacon, Building (ed. 1887). 
To point at what time the balance of power was most 
squally held between the lords and commons at Rome 
would perhaps admit a controversy. 
Hiri/t, Contests and Dissensions in Athens and Rome, iii. 
5. In xiirg., to come to a point or head : said of 
Then your hose should he nngartered, your bonnet un- 
handed, your sleeve unbuttoned, your shoe untied, and 
every thing about you demonstrating a careless desolation. 
Bat you are no such man; yon are rather point-dence In 
yoar accoutrement*, as loving yourself, than seeming the 
[over of any other. Shak., As yon Like it. 111. _'. 4111. 
Men's behaviour should be like their apparel, not too 
strait or point device, but free for exercise or motion. 
Bacon, Ceremonies and Respects (ed. 1887). 
Otto looked so gay, and walked so airily, he was so well- 
dressed and brushed and frizzled, so pmnt-de-rice., and of 
snch a sovereign elegance. 
R. L. Stereraon, Prince Otto, ii. 1. 
Go ! bid the banns and point, the bridal day. 
Bp. Hall, Satires, IV. L 124. 
Has the dtike pointed him to be his orator? 
Shirley, Love's Cruelty, a 2. pointe (F. pron. pwant), n. [P. : see ;>omfl.] A 
pointable (poin'ta-bl), a. [< point + -able.] triansmlarscarf ; a half-shawl folded in a point: 
<':i].;i hie of being pointed, or pointed out. usually of lace or other fine and delicate fabric. 
pointed 
pointe (pwaii-t'), n. [K., pp. of pointer, point, 
prick: see point^.} In her., leafed: said of a 
flower or plant. 
pointed (poin'ted), a. [< ;II'H/I + -rf2.] 1. 
Sharp; having a sharp point: as, a pointed rock. 
The various colour'd scarf, the shield he rean, 
The shining helmet, and the pointed spean. 
I'upe. Iliad, x. 85. 
2. Aimed at or expresslv intended for some 
particular person: directly applicable or ap- 
plied; emphasized: as, a pointed remark. 
Only ten days ago had he elated her by his pointed re- 
Rrd. Jane Autten, Nortbanger Abbey, xxlx. 
This Is a comprehensive, brief, pointed, and easily un- 
derstood exposition of the whole subject 
Science, XII. 229. 
3. Rpigraminatical; abounding in conceits or 
lively turns; piquant; sharp. 
His moral pleases, not hit pointed wit. 
Pope, link of II, mice, II. L 76. 
They cast about them their pointed antitheses, and often 
subsided Into a clink of similar s)llablus, and the clinch 
of an ambiguous word. /. D'ltrarli, Amen, of Lit., II. 352. 
Pointed arch, an urch liounded by two arcs each less 
than Do'. The arch of this form Is characteristic of Euro- 
pean medieval architecture from the middle of the twelfth 
century, though examples of Its use occur earlier. Its 
logical anil consistent use was devised und perfected in 
France. The pointed arch of much oriental architecture 
is an independent development, which never led to the 
logical conclusions and constructive methods o( the 
French pointed architecture. See Pmntrit ttylr, below. 
flothic architecture differs from Romanesque far more 
fundamentally than by the use nf panted archen In place 
of round arches, or by the substitution of one decorative 
system for another. 
C. II. Moorr, liiithlc Architecture, p. 7. 
Pointed ashler. secwA^r, x. - Pointed box, in mimX". 
a box in the form of an inverted pyramid, forming one of 
a series of three or four, anil used for dressing ore accord- 
Ing to the method devised by Von Klttlngrr. Also called 
a V-mt, and frequently by the German name Spitzkaitrti 
(that is, polnt-liux'). Pointed cross, In her., a cross 
having every one of its four anus pointed nbniptly, or 
with blunt point, differing from the cross fltche of all 
four, which is like n fiiiir-|n>lntrd star. Pointed Style 
in arch., a general phrasr under which are Incllideil all 
the different varieties of advanced nifilli-val architecture, 
generally called d'ofAic, from the common application of 
the pointed arch anil vault in the twelfth century until the 
general diffusion of Renaissance architecture toward the 
beginning of the sixteenth century. This style, as fully 
developed by the middle of the thirteenth century, exhlb- 
Pointed Style. Typical scheme of fully developed Ffench 'Dihe- 
dral of Ihe nth century. (From Vwllet-le-Ouc's " Diet, de P Archi- 
tecture.") 
its great flexibility anil adaptability to all purposes, and 
is thoroughly in accord with the conditions imposed upon 
the architect by northern climates, which demand, nnmni; 
other things, spacious and well-lighted Interiors for tniblii- 
, 
and high pitched roofs which can shea rain 
rapidly and upon which heavy masses of mow cannot 
lodge. While the pointed arch and vault are the most 
obvious characteristics of this style, they arc in fact mere- 
ly necessary details of it It Is fundamentally a system 
of construction In stone in which a skeleton framework 
of ribs and props forms the essential organic part of th-- 
building. All the weight* and strains are collected in . 
relatively small number of points, where the k>d are sup- 
