I. ˈpō(ə)r, ˈpȯ(ə)r, -ōə, -ȯ(ə) sometimes ˈpu̇(ə)r or -u̇ə verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English pouren
transitive verb
1.
a.
(1) : to cause or allow to flow : emit in a steady stream : diffuse , discharge
poured out torrents of water — J.G.Vaeth
pour grain into an elevator
ranges … pour rivers down to the coast — M.B.Eldershaw
summer pours warm sunlight … into the valleys — American Guide Series: Virginia
(2) : to dispense from a container
pour a drink
pour tea
b. : to supply copiously : convey as if through a sluice : channel , spout
pour men and money into the Netherlands — Stringfellow Barr
pour out a torrent of words
poured ridicule on the elaborate … analysis — Richard Hartshorne b. 1899
armies … that the Germans poured across Europe — Tom Wintringham
sweet-tempered … pastors poured forth comfort and learning — Sinclair Lewis
trying to pour sympathy all over the poor man — D.B.Chidsey
specifically : to send in a concentrated volley
poured 30 bullets into his plane — Ed Cunningham
c. : to produce in abundance — used with forth or out
travel-books … that our presses pour forth in floods — Louise Pound
keep pouring out millions of cars, trucks and buses every year — Motor Transportation in the West
d. : to apply in liberal amounts (as for coercion or to supply motive power)
poured the whip into the mules — Andy Adams
poured on the steam
began to pour heat on the business office — Human Organization
poured in every ounce of power but couldn't make it
2.
a. : to expend wholly
those who most long for peace now pour their lives on war — Muriel Rukeyser
b. : to give full expression to or a detailed account of : spill , vent
before our Father's throne, we pour our ardent prayers — John Fawcett
thrasher from cactus and mesquite pours forth his song — D.C.Peattie
pours out her troubles to them — Bosley Crowther
pouring out his feelings in his poetry — Ruth R. Chapman
3.
a. : to cause to flow or to pass as if flowing into a mold
pour steel
pour agar
pour concrete
nine sergeants were poured into plain clothes and set up in an office at Old Scotland Yard — J.D.Carr
poured the barefooted doctor into the coach, gave him a quart of whiskey to work on, and pulled out — F.B.Gipson
b. : to form by running plastic mixes of concrete into place in forms
pour a foundation wall
intransitive verb
1.
a.
(1) : to move with a continuous flow : issue or glide incessantly : gush , run
creeks pouring down from the uplands — Nan McDonald
wind pours over the mountains — C.P.Aiken
smoke … poured up from the blazing houses — Kenneth Roberts
line pours off your reel — C.C.Van Fleet
(2) : to rain heavily : teem
it was raining — but not pouring — Robbie Barcroft
b. : to progress or be channeled continuously : move in a body : stream , swarm
Marines poured ashore and secured the beachhead — H.L.Merillat
the promenading public still slowly poured up and down Fifth Avenue — Edith Wharton
all this lore poured into a big filing cabinet — H.W.Thompson
traffic poured over the new highway — G.R.Stewart
our own stuff was pouring back on them — Fred Majdalany
from your farms today food pours … to every corner of the country — A.E.Stevenson †1965
c. : to emanate in a flood
a spate of English grammars began to pour off the presses — N.C.Stageberg
personality pours out of him — Victor Thompson
calypsos pouring out of … jukeboxes — Paul Hofmann
d. : to preside at a tea table
she was asked to pour at a little reception for the performers after the concert
2. : to find an outlet : be given full expression
channels … through which those emotions might pour — Oscar Handlin
Synonyms:
pour , stream , gush , and sluice can mean, in common, to send forth liquid, or something suggesting liquid, copiously. pour stresses the abundance of the issuing or sending forth, usually implying emission in a continuous stream
the torrential rain poured down for days
to pour tributes on his head
mail poured in in answer to the advertisement
the crowd poured out of the front doors
stream suggests a flow limited by issuance through a channel or from an opening
tears streamed from her eyes
light streamed through the window
the rain streamed down the bank in small rivulets
gush stresses a suddenness and copiousness of the pouring forth as of something released from a close confinement
blood gushed from the wound
the spring gushed forth
words gushed from her in gratitude
sluice in this comparison always implies a confining flume or a channeled abundance of liquid
the rain fell with a frightening violence, … turning the opposite wall of the canyon into a sluicing cascade of muddy water — B.A.Williams
the Connecticut, sluicing down between the Green and White mountains — R.W.Howard
thrust her hands into the stream, then raised them, dripping, to sluice her face — Rebecca West
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- pour it on
II. noun
( -s )
1. : the action of pouring : flood , stream
seals … carved sheer as cameos in the moon's full pour — E.W.Barker
a great pour of contemptuous invective — Times Literary Supplement
especially : a heavy fall of rain
2.
a. : the action of running a plastic material into a mold or form
carpenters were stripping and placing forms for the next pour — New Era in Concrete
b. : the amount placed in a mold or form at one time
some mechanics use two pours of lead to fill the joint completely — Building, Estimating & Contracting
3.
a. : the principal opening by which molten metal enters a mold
b. : the superfluous metal adhering to the casting and resulting from the head metal in such an opening — called also pourpiece