It shows examples from the time of chaucer, and the older ones clearly indicate a variety of structures on, upon, in, through as well as over. If you use pore, youll be saying youre reading the book carefully. I have been poring over my new scheme he pored over the book the whole morning and. Though this word is spelled the same as the word that means those. A pore is a tiny opening in a surface through which gases, liquids or microscopic particles may pass. If you pore over or through information, you look at it and study it very carefully. Pore over definition of pore over by the free dictionary.
When you pore over a document or a textbook, you go through it carefully. To examine, study, or read with intense, careful attention. Often an object will have many pores, not just one, and these pores let liquids pass through them. I pawed my way over the mountain of books to find a good one to pore through. Pored definition, to read or study with steady attention or application. Sponges have many holes or pores in them which they use for feeding and such. Design l overs wanting a peek at some of the best newly designed home s in the uk can pore over them in new book designing homes for life 2005.
As regards the 20th century, some, from 1922, and 1949 indicate a surviving use of pore with on and through. Most work at uninspiring tasks, pore over old court decisions and statute books, and draft memos for their higherups. The expression pore over is frequently used in everyday contexts to mean to focus intently. If you want to piss me off use step foot, orientate and misuse peruse. The definition of a pore is a tiny opening in an animals skin that allows it to breath and sweat. Pour and pore sound very similar, but they have different meanings. A pore is small opening in a surface that lets stuff through. Maurice sendak, king of all wild things rolling stone. The noun comes from a greek word meaning a passageway. Theres a well of spelling mistakes in the english language that never seems to dry up. The water from the broken dam poured all over the rocks standing at its. As a verb, pore means to study or closely examine something, often a book, map or document. Verb with adverbs or prepositions, having special meaning, not divisiblefor example,go with combine nicely.
Pouring over a book is a misspelling, period, and no amount of rationalization is going to change that. The oed provides similar explanations to merriam webster, indicating that although over is the usual following preposition, others are possible. He pored through the documents for hours looking for a loop hole. It comes from the alternative meaning of the word pore which is to gaze intently or to reflect or meditate steadily as opposed to its common definition. Pore means to study or read something with great care. Pore, meaning a tiny opening, appears in the fourteenth century from the latin word, porus. Pore over definition of pore over by merriamwebster. Pour over is of course a meaningful phrase in its own right, but it has nothing to do with studying. Synonyms for pore over at with free online thesaurus, antonyms, and definitions. Definition of poreover phrasal verb in oxford advanced learners dictionary. The phrase meaning to study carefully is pore over. The verb to pore means to examine something closely. And for firsttimers, she adds, it can be a userfriendly way to. Nancy pores over her klingon textbook the night before the big test this is an idiom that confuses many.
Pore over something definition in the cambridge english. Antonyms for pore include disregard, forget, ignore, neglect, scan, flip through, look away, closure, closing and solid. You can pore over something or pore through something. It comes from a littleused sense of the verb pore namely, to meditate deeply. They also belong to the phylum porifera, which means porebearing. Since pour is a common word and sounds identical to pore, many english speakers use the verb pour in the verb phrase pore over meaning to meditate or ponder intently. When all else fails, check the dictionary rather than relying on.
He pored over the letter searching for clues about the writer. The phrase pore over is used as a verb which means to read or study. Pore definition and meaning collins english dictionary. On the female, you can see the genital pore behind the anus, and also a urinary pore located behind the genital pore. Pore can also refer to a tiny opening, like the pores on your skin, though this pore has a different etymological root. The difference between pour, pore and poor grammar lesson. It can also refer to meditating over something, and to be fully absorbed in a subject. Poring over a book means reading it with great attention. The noun pore, meaning an opening in the skin, is not related to the verb in the expression to pore over.
In modern writing, this sense of pore rarely appears outside this phrase. Pore over definition is to read or study something very carefully. Pour on the other hand, is something you do with a liquid. In expressions like pore over a book and pore over my taxes, the word is often misspelled as pour to transfer liquid. The verb pour, meaning to transfer water or some other substance from a container, came into english by way of old french from a latin verb, purare, to purify.
Another word for opposite of meaning of rhymes with sentences with find word forms translate from english translate to english words with friends scrabble crossword codeword words starting with words ending with words containing exactly words containing letters pronounce find conjugations find names. The male perch has just one urogenital pore, behind the anus. The surface might be your skin think of all those clogged pores suffered through in teen years or something else, like a filter. We usually associate the expression to pore over with academics who are passionate about their fields, and students who study obsessively before an important exam a scholar poring over a rare old manuscript. To pour, on the other hand, means to flow continuously and rapidly a pore is a little hole in a surface that lets gases, liquids, and microscopic elements through. The professor pored over the picture book in silence the tradesman was poring over his accounts what is the book you are poring over this afternoon he spent hours poring over the statistics. As early as the thirteenth century, pore is used as a verb meaning gaze intently. It comes from a littleused sense of the verb porenamely, to meditate deeply. The phrase pore over is used as a verb which means to read or study something very carefully. I always hated seeing pour over when pore over is called for. Nancy pours over her klingon textbook the night before the big test. She spent hours poring over the text, searching for a clue that might help solve the case.
If you use pour, youll be saying that youre spilling something on the book. Etymology we can find the reason this idiom uses pore instead of pour by looking at the definition and etymology of the two words. We use cookies to enhance your experience on our website, including to provide targeted advertising and track usage. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more. I collect them, pore over them, plan vacations by them, even wrap christmas presents in them.