I. pot 1 S2 W3 /pɒt $ pɑːt/ BrE AmE noun
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: pott ]
1 . COOKING [countable] a container used for cooking which is round, deep, and usually made of metal:
pots and pans
pot of
There was a big pot of soup on the stove.
2 . FOR A PLANT [countable] a container for a plant, usually made of plastic or baked clay:
herbs growing in pots
3 . TEA/COFFEE [countable] a container with a handle and a small tube for pouring, used to make tea or coffee:
Is there any tea left in the pot?
pot of
I’ll make a pot of coffee.
⇨ ↑ coffee pot , ↑ teapot
4 . FOR FOOD, PAINT ETC [countable] British English a round container for storing foods such as ↑ jam that are slightly liquid, or for substances such as glue or paint
pot of
a pot of blue paint
jam/paint/yoghurt etc pot
5 . BOWL/DISH ETC [countable] a dish, bowl, plate, or another container that is made by shaping clay and then baking it ⇨ pottery :
an earthenware pot
6 . go to pot informal if something such as a place or an organization goes to pot, it becomes much worse or fails because no one is taking care of it:
The government has let the whole country go to pot.
7 . pots of money British English informal a lot of money:
They’ve got pots of money in the bank.
He’s hoping to make pots of money from the deal.
8 . MONEY the pot
a) money that is available to do something, especially money that people have collected
in the pot
So far we’ve got £150 in the pot.
b) all the money that people have risked in a card game, and which can be won
in the pot
There was $1000 in the pot.
9 . DRUG [uncountable] old-fashioned informal ↑ marijuana :
Michael was smoking pot with some friends.
10 . (a case of) the pot calling the kettle black informal used humorously to say that you should not criticize someone for something, because you have done the same thing or have the same fault
11 . STOMACH [countable] a ↑ potbelly
12 . HIT A BALL [countable] British English the act of hitting a ball into one of the ↑ pocket s (=holes at the edge of the table) in games such as ↑ billiards , ↑ pool , and ↑ snooker
13 . TOILET [countable] informal a toilet
⇨ ↑ chamber pot , ↑ chimney pot , ↑ flowerpot , ↑ lobsterpot , ↑ melting pot
II. pot 2 BrE AmE verb ( past tense and past participle potted , present participle potting ) [transitive]
1 . ( also pot up British English ) to put a plant into a pot filled with soil:
Pot the seedlings after 2–3 weeks.
2 . British English to hit a ball into one of the ↑ pocket s (=holes at the edge of the table) in games such as ↑ billiards , ↑ pool , and ↑ snooker SYN pocket