/poyn"teuhr/ , n.
1. a person or thing that points.
2. a long, tapering stick used by teachers, lecturers, etc., in pointing things out on a map, blackboard, or the like.
3. the hand on a watch dial, clock face, scale, etc.
4. Mil. the member of an artillery crew who aims the weapon.
5. one of a breed of short-haired hunting dogs trained to point game.
6. a piece of advice, esp. on how to succeed in a specific area: The food expert gave some good pointers on making better salads.
7. Computers. an identifier giving the location in storage of something of interest, as a data item, table, or subroutine.
8. Pointers , Astron. the two outer stars of the Big Dipper that lie on a line that passes very near Polaris and are used for finding it.
[ 1490-1500; POINT + -ER 1 ]
Syn. 6. tip, hint, suggestion, caution.